Category Archives: performance

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

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

Mirigama Expressway Soon Operational

Dinitha Rathnayake, in MorningLK, 25 March 2021, ….

The Mirigama-Kurunegala section of the Central Expressway (E04) is to be opened in May, making it possible to travel the approximately 39.7 km distance between the two points “within 25 minutes”. Mirigama is a town in the Gampaha District.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under architects & architecture, economic processes, governance, growth pole, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, performance, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, tourism, transport and communications, world events & processes

Arjuna Ranatunga’s Wide-ranging Review of the World Cup Win in March 1996

Arjuna Ranatunga, in The Island, 7 March 2021, where the title runs thus: Our fans were our biggest strength,” ….. with the highlights being the intervention of The Editor, Thuppahi

During one of my visits to South Africa, I came across an interesting saying — If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.’ 

This sentence is so true. As we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of us winning the World Cup, we owe the success to our wonderful team spirit. I treat each of the other 13 members of the World Cup-winning squad not as teammates, but as brothers. They mean so much to me. And I know they will do anything for me. This was the secret of our success.

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, Australian culture, centre-periphery relations, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes

A Humanitarian Military Act in an Era of Horrendous Powerplays

Capt Elmo Jayawardena, in The Island, 24 March 2021,where the title is “The Pilot”

The UNHRC is in full swing. The ‘merchants of Geneva’ are getting ready to shoot their arrows of justice against the offenders of this planet. Of course, it is done democratically, by honourable people in Saville Row suits who sit around polished mahogany tables and determine by a count of votes who is guilty and who is not. That is the showpiece; but the truth could be so very different. Powerful people call the tune, and the theme is “You lend me your mule and I will remember you when it is your turn to take the stand. Then I’ll lend you my donkey.”

 SL Air Force’s “Marchetti”

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, meditations, news fabrication, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Ameer Ali’s Academic Works and Career

Recent Essays of Some Significance 

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS as set out in Wikipedia, …. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameer_Ali_(academic)  …. clearly not updated

Ali, A. (2016) From Islamophobia to Westophobia: The long road to radical Islamism. Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, 3 (1). pp. 1-19.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, australian media, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, democratic measures, devolution, economic processes, education, Eelam, electoral structures, fundamentalism, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian traditions, Islamic fundamentalism, island economy, jihad, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, religiosity, religious nationalism, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes

Highlights of the Jesuit Era at St. Aloysius College, Galle

K. K. de Silva, as Compiler……. (at Sacred Heart Convent: 1943-44; then at SAC:1945 -1958; on Staff in 1959) … with highlighting being the work of The Editor, Thuppahi

Introduction
St. Aloysius College & St. Mary’s Cathedral stand together on Mount Calvary Hill, known in earlier times as ‘Poraka kande’ or Gibbet Hill, in Galle. The Hill was the place where executions were carried out during Dutch rule, & Hemantha Situge, a distinguished old Aloysian, refers to its  significance in his blog of 31 Dec. 2012 titled “The Scaffold City Galle”.

Continue reading

5 Comments

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, religiosity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes

Hey Presto! How to Produce A Book — Visit Eventbite Webinar

Mayflower –Seachange, Anyone can do it! How to write and publish your book (even in a pandemic!)”

Join authors Tasmina Perry, Juliet Coombe & Holly Kellam to discover how to get that book written, published and made into a movie!

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under education, heritage, life stories, literary achievements, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, world events & processes

The Sri Lankan Kaffrinha as Embodiment of African-Asian Hybridity

Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, providing an Abstract of her article  Africa in South Asia: Hybridity in Sri Lankan Kaffrinha”

As public spaces become arenas to display cultural memories, Afro-descendants in South Asia become more visible. Emerging local histories further complement the trajectories of Africans and facilitate recognition of Afro-descendants.  In my paper “Africa in South Asia: hybridity in Sri Lankan Kaffrinha” published in South Asian History and Culture (2020).  I explore connections between Africa and Asia through a genre of music and dance called kaffrinha which enriched the colonial Sri Lankan culturescape and, continues in the postcolonial. In the absence of historical records of kaffrinha for centuries, I have explored alternative narratives – song texts, music scores, dance movements, paintings and frescoes in order to map the dynamics of kaffrinha.

Continue reading

5 Comments

Filed under Afro-Asians, arab regimes, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Remembering Indian Ocean Slavery through Film: Afro-Sri Lankan Memories

Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya

Whilst the transatlantic slave trade has overwhelmed the historiography of Africa, the forced easterly movement of Africans is only receiving scholarly attention in the twenty first century.  Movement of Africans from the Continent is not characterised by the slave trade alone.  Not surprisingly, free Africans moved eastwards as missionaries, soldiers, sailors and traders.  Forced migration was concurrent with free migration.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, Afro-Asians, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, immigration, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, photography, population, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes