Category Archives: life stories

October 1, 2018 · 5:13 am

Vicious Politics from CRICKET AGE targets Chandika Hathurusingha in Chauvinist Style

 Michael Roberts

I recall a recent article by reporter Krishnamurthy in Cricket Age which was marked by its mud-slinging character [as well as its poor command of the English language – jarring but not a major issue]. But his venal essay on Chandika Hathurusingha’s religious preferences is beyond the pale. It must be challenged and undermined.

   PUJA AT ST ANTHONY'S  Chaminda Vaas (a Catholic) and Sanath Jayasuriya (a Buddhist) in intense mood as they proceed towards a propitiatory vow at St. Anthony’s Church, Kochchikade  on 28th June 2000

  Arjuna Ranatunga receives a pirit nula from Bellanwila Wimalaratna Thero 1997

For one, it neglects the fact that Sumathipala was among those who brought Hathuru into the fold. … and that Sumathipala himself has been an arch conspirator throughout his many years in the BCCSL and then in Sri Lanka Cricket. Continue reading →

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September 29, 2018 · 9:24 am

Beware the Global Human Rights Mafia and Their Sri Lankan Parrots

C. A. Chandraprema, in Island, September 2018, with this title “Cardinal’s words and Mangala’s response”.… the highlighting is the work of the Editor, Thuppahi

The comments made by Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith last Sunday at the Ekala St Matthew’s Church have made waves with Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Saliya Peiris criticising the Cardinal’s words and the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and several Catholic MPs in the Joint Opposition condemning Samaraweera and Peiris for taking on the Cardinal. What the Cardinal said last Sunday during a sermon delivered in Sinhala was roughly as follows.

“The latest religion in the West is the religion called human rights. Human rights were discovered only recently. It is being regarded as a wonderful new discovery which is being held aloft and we are being relentlessly lectured about it. However our people began adhering to religions centuries ago. Some people in our country talk of a secular society. Human life is not just food and drink and the pursuit of comfort. Many people in the West now regard religion as an outer garment. They use religion when it suits them but if they are required to make sacrifices, they put religion aside. Our lives are short and if we limit it to the pursuit of pleasure we will come to an unfortunate end. If we adhere to a religion we don’t need human rights. Those who are dependent on human rights are those who have no religion. We must not be misled by these chimeras. We must look at this intelligently.”

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September 28, 2018 · 9:16 am

Extra, Extra: Population Figures for Sri Lanka

EDITORIAL News Item, News-in-Asia, September 2018

Sri Lanka’s mid year population as at 2017 was estimated at 21.444 million, a rise from 21.203 million estimated in 2016, latest official data showed here Friday.According to a report in Ceylon Today, quoting official data, since 2012, Sri Lanka’s population has increased by 1,019, million. The highest population increase was recorded from the capital Colombo District with a population of 2.419 million and the lowest was from Mullaitivu, in the north. with a population of 96,000.

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September 28, 2018 · 7:14 am

Harry Solomons: Sri Lankan Cricketing Wonderman

Sam Perry, courtesy of  ESPNcricinfo, 4 January 2017, where the title is “The man behind Sydney’s cricket-gear wonderland”

He was a kid from Sri Lanka who came to Australia with no more than A$200 in his pocket and a child in his hands. But decades later, the name Harry Solomons is synonymous with the Disneyland of cricket gear in Australia: Kingsgrove Sports Centre.

aaa--HARRY 1  Harry Solomons: “Man, woman or child, they all want a bat with thick edges and a thicker profile” Sam Perry

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September 27, 2018 · 4:32 am

Anne Abayasekara in Print Again

NEW BOOK! – ON SALE AT BMICH 27-30 SEPT 2018 …… PRICE Rs 1000 at INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR ONLY … Published by Perera & Hussein (Bay Owl Press). Continue reading →

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September 26, 2018 · 8:29 am

President Sirisena addresses United Nations in New York

News Item, AT http://www.president.gov.lk/president-urges-the-international-community-to-look-at-sri-lanka-with-a-fresh-perspective/ … with this title “President urges the international community to look at Sri Lanka with a fresh perspective”

President Maithripala Sirisena called upon the international community to look at Sri Lanka with a fresh perspective and consider the tremendous progress made by the government towards reconciliation, restoration of democratic freedoms, human rights and the rule of law and [therefore to] extend the fullest support to build a progressive, democratic, free and equal society.

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September 25, 2018 · 2:16 pm

Kishani’s “Danno Budunge” in 2016: Further Vibes and Reverberations

An INTRODUCTORY NOTE

In February 2016 I borrowed an article  by Sasanka Perera in Groundviews and placed it in Thuppahi   When I recently advertised this article in FACEBOOK it drew a critical comment from Vinod Moonesinghe of Sri Lanka and then a spate of comments. Several of these thoughts provide food for thought …and debate.  So, let fruitful reflections flow –beginning here with my original note and then deploying the critical line penned by VINOD MOONESINGHE to encourage more sparks to kindle flames.

 Vinod Moonesinghe Tony Donaldson Darshanie Ratnawalli

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September 24, 2018 · 1:38 pm

A Caustic Satire on Sri Lanka’s Cricketing Ailments

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, September 2018, bearing the title “Sack captain, sack coach but don’t talk about real changes”

Right. Okay. This is pathetic, isn’t it? Knocked out of the Asia Cup basically before it has even begun. A big 91-run loss to Afghanistan, following an even bigger 137-run pasting by Bangladesh. Appalling. Someone needs to be held accountable for this garbage. How far Sri Lankan cricket has fallen. This is beyond embarrassing. Contracts must be torn up. Changes must be made. Heads surely have to roll.

  Angelo Mathews and Chandika Hathurusingha in discussion AFP

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September 23, 2018 · 5:25 am

Hares In and Around … with A Cricketing Excursion

A Snowshoe Hare = The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), also called the varying hare, or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name “snowshoe” because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal’s feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks. Its feet also have fur on the soles to protect it from freezing temperatures….. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_hare]

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September 22, 2018 · 11:34 am

Jayasekera’s Study of British Colonialism in Ceylon reviewed

Chandra R De Silva, in Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences 41(1) 2018, pp 65-68, with highlighting emphasis being the Work of The Editor, Thuppahi

reviewing Confrontations with Colonialism: Resistance, Revivalism and Reform under British Rule in Sri Lanka 1796- 1920, Vol. I, by P. V. J. Jayasekera (Colombo: Vijitha Yapa, 2017), Rs. 1500.

In one of the most challenging and thought-provoking history books published in Sri Lanka in the last decade, P. V. J. Jayasekera has used a wide variety of sources to challenge a number of existing interpretations relating to Sri Lanka under British colonial rule in the nineteenth century. While the book is based partly on his own doctoral dissertation completed in 1970, in Jayasekera’s own words “The scope and the foci of the original study have been substantially changed (p. ix)” in view of new theoretical approaches in the study of colonial history and the debates on history arising out of the recent ethnic conflict. Jayasekera has also carefully taken into account historical research on Sri Lanka published in the long period since he completed his dissertation. Readers should note that despite the title, Jayasekera has consciously avoided any attempt “to cover the confrontations of the Sri Lankan Tamil society with colonialism (p. xxvii)” and that, with the exception of brief references in the concluding section, information on Muslim-Buddhist relations will come to us only in the forthcoming second volume.

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