Nick van der Hoeven
I wanted to write about a very complex man, one of my grandfathers …. George Frederick van der Hoeven. The main reason for doing so is because history has not been kind to him, especially the unwritten verbal history within our family. Born in 1901 in Colombo Ceylon — then under British rule — Grandpa (as we called him) died here in Melbourne in 1978. I was 6 years old.
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, Australian culture, British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, education policy, Empire loyalism, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Michael Roberts
In THIS MEMO inspired by Senaka Weeraratne’s article below, I present two striking photographs to illustrate the amateurish and rudimentary nature of treatment for those subject to serious injury on the cricket field in the 20th century in contrast with the jeep-ambulances and medical staff attending matches in recent decades. Howeer, these facilities did not prevent PHIL HUGHES from succumbing to “death-by-bouncer” during a Sheffield Shield match.
Duleep Mendis bing carried off the field by Mevan Pieris & Dennis chanmugam (two teammates) after he was felled by paceman Jeff Thomson at the ODI match at Kennington Oval in London during the World Cup Prelims in summer 1975
When Phil Hughes wes felled in Sydney in 2014, there was a jeep with a stretcher available to carry him off …. Alas, he died in hospital; whereas Duleep suvived, played on and is still in the cricket circuit as a coach. C’est la vie.
Michael Roberts
During my years at Peradeniya University campus in the late 1950s, one of my bosom pals was LJM Cooray aka Mark Cooray. Our engagements in the Student Christian Movement deepened our association and was further strengthened by his marriage to another SCM-er viz. Noreen – a gentle and inspiring soul. Let me stress that Mark’s home in Colpetty was one of the several spots where I could stay overnight during my undergraduate days.
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CR De Silva in Memo responding to a Query from Shihan De Silva in UK
The evidence as to from what parts of India the KSD (Karava, Salagama, Durawa) castes arrived in Sri Lanka is not totally clear, but there are some indications in Portuguese sources. I have no data on the origins of the Durava.
However, here is what I have traced on the Salagamas. It suggests that the Salagamas came from the South Indian Malabar or Kerala coast and that the Karavas migrated from the eastern shores of the South Indian coast (currently Tamilnadu). Given that caste identity was connected to occupation, we should note that changes in occupation could have enabled some individuals to move from their caste identities especially during migration.
Filed under accountability, caste issues, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, migrant experiences, politIcal discourse, religiosity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, transport and communications, working class conditions, world events & processes
Upali Obeyesekere, whose chosen title reads thus: “Tribute to ‘Sons of the Soil’ who made a huge contribution towards the Economy and Socio-cultural Aspects of Sri Lanka.”
Summa
Jackson Anthony
Lalith Kotelawela
Sri Lanka lost a few stars of yesteryear recently and it is our bounden duty to recognise these individuals in our popular monthly tabloid – The Sri Lankan Anchorman. They came from diverse backgrounds in terms of birth, schooling, and upbringing. But they all had one mission in life – to excel at what they do to exude a commitment of excellence in their chosen field and bring pride to our motherland – Sri Lanka.
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ITEM in ESPNcricinfo
The Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025, hosted by Malaysia, has reached its penultimate stage as India, Australia, South Africa and England emerge to be the semi-finalists. After weeks of intense league matches, and the thrilling super six stage where the 12 teams clashed, the top two teams from each group advanced to the final four.
While India and Australia dominated Group 1, South Africa and England emerged victorious from Group-2. The semi-finals are set to take place on 31st January at the Bayuemas Oval, Kuala Lumpur one after another.
Michael Roberts
Some devastating batting from opening bat Mitchell Owen sealed the BBL final played at Hobart for the Hobart Hurricanes led by Matthew Wade. Owen displayed a range of strokes to all part of the ground — not only hoicks to mid-wicket, long and long-off; but also reverse sweeps and lap shots. Assisted by two other batsmen, HE enabled the Hurricanes to reach the target of 000 runs by the over.
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Tristan Lafayette in ESPNcricinfo, 25 January 2025 *
Mitchell Owen had a rollicking Bellerive Oval crowd in the palm of his hands and capped a breakout season with the equal-fastest BBL century as Hobart ……Mick Moore, whose chosen title is “It’s the Party, Stupid: Sri Lanka’s Political Turnaround – Part 1” ….. while the highlighting in this version with a different title has been imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Photo courtesy of BBC
It is not quite a miracle. But it is certainly a very impressive turnaround. From around 1970 until 2021, Sri Lanka seemed to be on an irreversible track toward steadily worsening governance: grand corruption, disregard of the law, ethnic and religious conflict, state violence and (non-military) government incapacity and incompetence. Today, by contrast, following the September 2024 presidential and the November 2024 parliamentary elections, the prospects for more substantive democracy and better governance seem bright. The old political elite and the broader politician class have been replaced almost completely through the most peaceful and fair elections that the country has seen for a long time. The prospect of military intervention in politics has entirely faded. The female proportion of MPs doubled from a very low 5 percent in a year when the global trend was in the other direction.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, democratic measures, disparagement, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, IMF, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, taking the piss, working class conditions, world events & processes
thuppahi
