We are indebted to Thiru Arumugam and the latest issue of THE CEYLANKAN produced by the Ceylon Society of Australia for the two photographs reproduced here. I invite readers and old University personnel to provide pertinent bio-data on any of the individuals here who served the University and society over the next few decades. I will be initiating this task below as time goes by.
Tisaranee Gunasekara, whose choice of title has been “Secularism or Faith” — in an article which appeared in Groundviews as well as Sri Lanka Guardian
“And even here
Lies the other shore
Waiting to be reached.”
Tagore (My Reminiscences)
The blue, red, yellow, orange and white lights are on, as are the makeshift stalls selling lanterns. Yet few pause to see, haggle, buy. Vesak, so near chronologically, had never seemed so far away spiritually. After the Easter Sunday Massacre, fears were raised about Vesak too being turned into a bloody spectacle by the IS, working through its local adherents. As it turned out, neither the IS nor its local adherents were necessary to turn Vesak into a season of violence. The Sinhalese managed the task on their own.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, Buddhism, cultural transmission, education policy, fundamentalism, historical interpretation, Left politics, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, racist thinking, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes, zealotry
Benjamin Brown, reviewing Nationalism, Development and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka by Rajesh Venugopal …. at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationaldevelopment/2018/12/18/book-review-nationalism-development-and-ethnic-conflict-in-sri-lanka-by-rajesh-venugopal/
Gerald H Peiris. Island, 3 April 2018,where the title is “The Pursuit of Scholarly Excellence: Professor Kingsley M. de Silva’s Impact on University Education”
“Honour whom honour is due” (Epistle to the Romans, Holy Bible)
Professor Kingsley de Silva resigned from the academic staff of the University of Peradeniya in 1995. That premature retirement must have been a painful termination of a cherished institutional link, made in the context of those in charge of university affairs at that time making it difficult for him to continue in university service without jeopardising his research commitments.
Filed under cultural transmission, education, education policy, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, literary achievements, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, Presidential elections, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes
Jayadeva Hettiarachchi, in Sunday Times, 17 February 2018, where the title is “Genuine desire to find the truth about what ails our country.” .…. a review of Daya de Silva: Pearl to a Tear Drop”
There couldn’t have been a more opportune time for me to read and review this book written by Daya de Silva: namely, that moment when Sri Lankan parliamentarians were vying for power, pushing and shoving, throwing chairs, chili powder and even attempting to stab their opponents.
| ISBN Number | 978-955-30-8985-4 |
We humans have a deep association with our motherland even when we live in other parts of the world. A person born and bred in a given country can be separated from that country, but that country cannot be completely eradicated from that person’s mind as clearly seen in the sentiments expressed by the author of this book about her life in Sri Lanka. As is always the case, foreigners/expatriates do perceive things quickly and more comprehensively than those who live in a country. Of course, the interest, passion and a genuine desire to find the truth beneath what appears on the surface has prompted Daya de Silva to write this book as I see it.
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, economic processes, education policy, electoral structures, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, Left politics, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, welfare & philanthophy
Michel Nugawela in Daily FT, 8 January 2019, where the title runs thus “Why followers follow bad leaders” … ….. with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi — who has also deployed images at the end in step with Nugawela’s argument
Maithripala Sirisena. Mahinda Rajapaksa. Ranil Wickremesinghe. We’ve had different leaders with the same unhappy results for decades. At the core of this country’s political gridlock and dysfunction is a failed leadership culture and not a few men jockeying for power. Our existing model of representative leadership and behavioural conduct urgently needs fixing, as does fast tracking the empowerment of a new generation of leaders in the UNP. And yet we often forget that leadership is also a two-part equation. Followers have their own identity, just as leaders have theirs. In fact, Michael Maccoby, a leadership expert who has advised, taught, and studied the leaders of companies and governments in 36 countries, says: “Followers are as powerfully driven to follow as leaders are to lead.”
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, cultural transmission, democratic measures, education, education policy, ethnicity, gender norms, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Ubeyasiri Wijeyananda Wickrama, reviewing Palitha Manchanayake’s Interesting Episodes in Life …. with highlighting emphasis imposed in arbitrary fashion by The Editor, Thuppahi
On the basis of positive responses that the author had on his earlier publication ‘Some Recollections and Reflections’ he was encouraged to produce the current episodes relating to his life. This book consists of 32 narratives in the form of episodes in its contents. The author has presented an introductory preface while the foreword is by the H.E. High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Australia, Mr Somasundaram Skandakumar.
Filed under centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, education policy, energy resources, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, travelogue, unusual people, world affairs
Sam Samarasinghe aka Stanley WR de Samarasinghe, with this NOTE in Colombo Telegraph: Some of you may have read my article titled “A Way Out of the Crisis to Save Sri Lanka’s Democracy” that appeared in the Colombo Telegraph on December 7th. It elicited a fairly significant response. The format of Colombo Telegraph allows for dialogue and discussion of a topic. Making use of that I prepared a response partly to answer some issues and questions that some of the correspondents raised. Colombo Telegraph has published my response. …. A Response presented here with highlighting emphases imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
I am thankful to all those who contributed to the dialogue following my article published in the Colombo Telegraph on December 07. I will not attempt to respond to individual comments. But taken in its totality the discussion raises some important issues relating to governance in Sri Lanka in the context of the present crisis.
Filed under accountability, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, devolution, disparagement, economic processes, education policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, legal issues, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people, vengeance, working class conditions, world events & processes
G. Usvatte-aratchi, Sunday Island, 2 December 2018, where the title is “Sinhala and Tamil as languages of instruction and administration”
There have been several letters to the Editor in The Island, on these themes. I want to correct some mistakes that recurred in these interventions and present a perspective that has not been presented so far.
Solomon Bandaranaike had little to do with the language of instruction in school. The credit goes to J.R. Jayewardene and V. Nallliah who moved a resolution in the State Council in 1943 that the language of instruction in schools shall be Sinhala and Tamil. The resolution was carried. I read somewhere that the moving spirit for the initiative came from Jayantha Weerasekera, who was an official in the Sinhala Maha Sabha, of which at that time Jayewardene was a (the?) leader. Jayantha Weeraekere was a close friend and collaborator of Kumaratunga Munidasa, a powerful voice for Sinhala language. The Resolution was not acted upon until January in 1947.
Jayantha Weerasekera 
CWW Kannagara
Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, cultural transmission, democratic measures, education, education policy, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, social justice, Sri Lankan scoiety, Uncategorized, world events & processes
The doyen among the contemporary historians of the island has deplye personal biographical expirences and his considerable reserch material to pen biographical tales that can illuminate our history, Editor, Thuppahi
Filed under British colonialism, British imperialism, Buddhism, economic processes, education, education policy, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, life stories, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, politIcal discourse, power sharing, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world affairs
thuppahi
