Category Archives: performance

April 13, 2021 · 3:38 am

The SBS: Marine Commandos of the Sri Lankan Navy

Michael Roberts

A recent article by Dishan Joseph (see below) has marked the role of a commando outfit known as the SBS, or Special Boat Service, that was developed within the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) during the Eelam Wars.  The story is complex and demands an elaborate ‘companion piece’ that is attentive to time, combat locations, initiatives and the lessons derived from a remarkable and formidable enemy, namely, the Sea Tigers. In war one becomes like one’s opponent in order to survive. The innovativeness of the LTTE was monumental and its sea-faring capacities were one reason why it outdid-and-outbid the other Tamil militant organisations in the fight to lead the claim for independence for Thamililam during the 1980s/1990s.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under education, Eelam, ethnicity, female empowerment, historical interpretation, insurrections, island economy, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, military strategy, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, unusual people, war reportage, women in ethnic conflcits, working class conditions, world events & processes

April 11, 2021 · 10:11 am

Don Bradman and Prince Philip

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under cricket for amity, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, photography, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

April 8, 2021 · 10:45 am

A Restrained but Reconciliatory Feast at St. Anthony’s in Kachchativu in 2021

 

The Jaffna Divisional Secretary informed the public, well in advance, that St. Anthony’s Feast in the Kachchativu island had been cancelled this year due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. The decision was well understood by devotees of both Sri Lanka and India.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, pilgrimages, Rajapaksa regime, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

April 7, 2021 · 2:03 pm

Charlie Chaplin in Bali

Tony Donaldson’s Treasure Trove

Here are two photos of Charlie Chaplin in Bali from my collection.

In one photograph, we see Chaplin in a comical moment as if he is conducting a gamelan orchestra in a Balinese village, possibly Ubud.  He could also be dancing in front of the gamelan — for the way his arms and hands are positioned suggest this  We can’t say for sure. The gamelan players are clearly enjoying this moment with Chaplin, with lots of fun and laughter. A gamelan orchestra is led by the kendang (drum) player – the nearest thing to a kind of conductor in a gamelan.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, photography, self-reflexivity, tourism, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

April 7, 2021 · 11:01 am

A Koala Next Door

The Belair National Park is 150 yards from our door and the man-made Playford Lake another 150 yard s away, Every now and then a koala can be seen in its environs, but amateur snaps do not reveal them at thier finest or best.

 

Bugger! It is a video not a snap! Whata bloody amateur!

So: turn to professionals

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, landscape wondrous, performance, photography

April 5, 2021 · 3:29 pm

Reflections on Arjuna’s Review of the 1996 World Cup Triumph

Michael Roberts, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph …. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/reflections-on-arjunas-review-of-the-1996-world-cup-triumph/

Arjuna Ranatunga’s timely recollections and assessments of Sri Lanka’s cricketing triumph at the Final of the 1996 World Cup at Lahore on March 1996 add up to a master class – balanced, wide-ranging, revelatory and judicious within the space limits of a news-item.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, Australian culture, australian media, communal relations, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, ethnicity, fundamentalism, historical interpretation, life stories, LTTE, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, trauma, unusual people, world events & processes

April 4, 2021 · 11:00 am

GoMicro at the Cutting Edge via Sivam & Jarrad

Sivam Krish and Jarrad Law in cooperation with Flinders University

“By combining our skills in engineering, product design and software development we have realized some exciting possibilities across many disciplines.   It has taken us into new areas where we have found collaborators whom we enjoy working with, opening new doors and new possibilities that we now believe can transform with AI and Phone Microscopy” — is the opening gambit in thier web site.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, economic processes, education, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, performance, photography, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

April 1, 2021 · 1:13 am

Tamara Kunanayakam in Dialogue with Faraz on the UNHRC Vote at Geneva, March 2021

VISIT http://www.independent.lk/un-geneva-how-will-it-impact-sri-lankans-tamara-kunanayakam-on-newslinesl%E2%80%8B-29th-march-2021/

UN GENEVA: HOW WILL IT IMPACT SRI LANKANS? – Tamara Kunanayakam on #NewslineSL​ – 29th March 2021

2,404 views
•Streamed live on Mar 30, 2021

Continue reading →

15 Comments

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, discrimination, disparagement, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

March 31, 2021 · 4:43 am

Randolph Ranjith Alwis of Sri Lanka & Adelaide: Epitaphs in Depth

ONE: from Victor Rebikoff OAM, and Former FECCA Chair 1992-96

I am deeply honored to have been asked by the Alwis family to provide this personal eulogy on my close friend Randolph Alwis AM whom I have known for over 35 years since we became the Presidents of our respective State and Territory Multicultural Communities Councils in the early 1980’s and as a consequence Deputy Chairs of Australia’s peak community body FECCA – viz, -the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia. At that time both of us were the ‘young guns’ at the forefront of Australia’s multicultural movement and became closely involved in working with Commonwealth, State and Territory governments in the initial introduction of culturally and linguistically appropriate services for migrants and refugees Australia wide.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, language policies, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, tolerance, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes

March 29, 2021 · 1:28 pm

Western Real-Politic at UNHRC Sesions in Geneva, 2021

Chandre Dharma-wardana,24 March 2021, whose preferred title is “The Real-Politik behind the UNHRC Actions and What the West Aims to Achieve in Sri Lanka” …  … note PS at end….. End Notes are by Thuppahi

The core-group of Western countries behind the UNHRC resolution have their own highly developed intelligence sources of information on the Eelam War as it was of intense interest to the Western nations – in fact the foreign ministers of UK and France actually came to Colombo to intervene personally.[1] Given that level of interest, they had reams of information on the Eelam War. Lord Naseby has exposed the tip of this hidden iceberg of information possessed by the British Government alone.[2] The US, the Indians, the French, Germans, and most of all the Norwegians possessed first-hand information. None of that has been exploited by the UN, but remain hidden because, in all probability, what is in them are of little use to the agenda of the core group of nations behind the UNHRC resolution.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, conspiracies, disparagement, doctoring evidence, education, Eelam, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes