Category Archives: population

Galle Fort & Its Peoples in Black & White

Gagno’s Searing Camerawork

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Cricket & Galle in Rothman’s ‘Potted’ History of Sri Lanka

VIEW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNJyW-rdZPQ …. entitled The Modern Origins of Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict”

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Sri Lanka’s Statistics Today: Demography, Parties, Et cetera

KK  de Silva** … responding to a Request from Michael Roberts (see Below for my Note to several pals)

 A = Ethnic Groups at latest census 2011, 2012 … https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Sri_Lanka

Sinhalese 15, 250, 081                  74. 90%
Sri Lankan Tamils  2, 269, 266    11.15%
Sri Lankan Moors 1, 892, 638      9.30%
Indian Tamils  839, 504                 4.12%
Sri Lankan Malays 44, 130           0.22%
Burghers, Eurasians 38, 293         0.19%
Others 25, 527                                  0.13%
Total 20, 359, 439
……………………………….. Above figures are in line with figures provided by the Dept. Of Census & Statistics.

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The Kaffir in Sri Lanka: A Partial Bibliography from Thuppahi

Michael Roberts 

The first two photographs provide just a glimpse of their ‘markings’; while the map composed I think by Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya indicates the long history of African migratory flows (sometimes as slaves) to Asian lands.

 

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Enhancing Protection in the Face of Pandemics

Dr. Laleen Jayamanne:** in The Island, 19 October 2022, where the title reads thus: “An Insider’s Guide to Pandemics and Biosecurity”

“June Twenty Second Sixteen Thirty-three
A momentous day for you and me
Of all the days that was the one
An age of Reason could have begun”  ….
The Life of Galileo, Bertolt Brecht, 1939

“June Twenty Second Sixteen Thirty-three
A momentous day for you and me
Of all the days that was the one
An age of Reason could have begun”

The Life of Galileo, Bertolt Brecht, 1939

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Sustaining Cultural Performance Practices across the Indian Ocean

Shihan De Silva Jayasuriya et al

PREFACE to her new book entitled “Sustaining Support for Intangible Cultural Heritage” (ICH)

Sustaining Support for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) continues the conversations on cultural heritage which commenced at a virtual conference held on August 3, 2020, at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. The conference was spurred by the screening of my film – “Indian Ocean Memories and African Migrants” – at the Social Scientists Association, Colombo. The interest shown by UNESCO Global Network Facilitators, Dr Bilinda Nandadeva and Dr Gamini Wijesuriya, who attended the screening, was a catalyst to convening the conference. The Covid-19 pandemic further exposed the significance of heritage and the vulnerability of intangible culture. The book is a call to value ICH and an inspiration for academics, researchers, stakeholders, civil society, cultural practitioners and policymakers to understand the threats to sustaining heritage.

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Orphaned. Abandoned. Illegitimate. Children cared for by the Evelyn Nurseries of Kandy, 1920 et seq

Michael Roberts

 The tale of the lifeworld of Charles Braine (1877-1944) in British Ceylon presented by one of his descendants https://thuppahis.com/2022/09/21/charles-s-braine-a-rajah-of-a-planter-in-british-ceylon/ generated a side-issue: sex and/or marriage between the British personnel managing the tea, rubber and coconut plantations in British Ceylon and the labour force they commanded. The inequalities in power placed unequal sexual advantages for the planter periya dorais …. and illicit children were one outcome in some instances – a process that probably continued into the second third of the 20th century when Sri Lankans of upper-crust status with an educational background in the best local schools began to gain entry to planter-jobs.

Unlike some of his compatriots, the Englishman Charles Braine kept house with his common-law Sinhalese wife, Engracia Nona: together they fostered and educated a lively family of nine children.

Interest in this tale and comments from Joe Paiva and Errol Fernando led me to two topics of some consequence: (A) the presence in the island of an ethnic category identified as “Eurasians” as distinct from the Burghers;** and (B) the endearing and enduring work of an orphanage known as the Evelyn Nursery that had been launched by a British lady with a large heart that was matched by her architectural and organisational skill: Ms Lena Chapman ( ….).

 

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Sri Lankans in Australia: 2016 Census Data …… The Demographic Profile

Item sent to Thuppahi by Victor Melder ….  at https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2016/7107_0 …. presented here with some selective highlights from the Thuppahi pen

People 109,853
Male 57,280
Female 52,573
Australian citizen 60.3%
Not an Australian citizen 38.3%

Families 43,816
Couples with children 26,914
Couples without children 13,326
One parent families 2,972
Other families 592

All private dwellings 52,548
Median monthly mortgage repayment $2,100
Median weekly rent paid $351

 

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Aussie Testosterone for Arabia! Australian Camels in High Demand

Noah Yim, in The Australian, 18 August 2022, where the title readsAussie mums for richest pickings of camel crop” …. while the highlighting is the hand of The Editor, Thuppahi

These mums could give birth to the Arabian Peninsula’s next top models. Wild Australian camels are highly sought after as surrogate mothers to the most prized beauty pageant and racing camels in the Middle East, courting millions of dollars from kings and sheiks in order to continue the progeny free of diseases.

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From Ceylon to Australia: Migrant Journeys, 1860s-to-2010s

Earl Forbes, whose chosen title in The Ceylankan is “Ceylon/Sri Lanka to Australia: Arrivals and Survival”

Ceylonese/Sri Lankans have entered Australia for a variety of reasons during the past one and a half centuries.  The far greater number of these arrivals occurred in the second half of the twentieth century and first two decades of the 21st century.  Early arrivals go as far back as the last two decades of the nineteenth century.

Figure 3  Queensland sugarcane plantation workers. … [placed as frontispiece because of its striking character

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