Category Archives: S. Thomas College

September 5, 2025 · 12:42 pm

Vale … Lareef Idroos: A Gathering in Los Angeles

Dr Mohamed Lareef Idroos of La Canada, Ca. passed away on September 1st, 2025.

Beloved husband of Nabila and father of Shireen, Sabrina and Samira

Funeral will be on Thursday, September 4th …..at Rose Hills Memorial Park, 3900 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, Ca……………..at 10 am

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Dr Lareef Idroos, was a past pupil of St Thomas College……….. He headed the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Hollywood, Ca……………….A highly respected and loved doctor to all his patients.

Lareef Idroos was a successful leg-spin and googly bowler for S. Thomas’ College in the late 1950s; entered the Medical Faculty circa 1960 and was a member of the University of Ceylon cricket team under Carlyle Perera which secured the Sara Trophy during a spectacular season 1962/63. After he migrated to USA in the 1970s, he played for USA in the ODI tournaments conducted by the ICC in the late 1970s.

“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un”

                                               ****************

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September 3, 2025 · 4:40 pm

Vale: Lareef Idroos

Errol Fernando in Melbourne

I am deeply saddened to hear of my very old friend Lareef’s death. He was my neighbour in Kollupitiya, Colombo 3. From the time I was 6 or 7 years old I played cricket with him under the coconut trees. The railway line and the sea were just behind the batsman!  Lareef loved to bowl, and I loved to bat and so we were both happy! I spent hours, days, weeks, months and years facing his bowling. He came up with new tricks all the time and used the sea breeze very effectively!  I have no memory of him batting and me bowling !

 

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August 17, 2025 · 12:58 am

Reading Richard Simon’s THOMIA

Uditha Devapriya, via Thilina Walpola in The Island, 10 August  2025 …………….. Review of “Thomia: The Entangled Histories of Lanka and Her Greatest Public School” by Richard Simon. In 2 volumes. Lazari Press. 869 pages.

Richard Simon’s Thomia is a massive undertaking, though to describe it as such is to indulge in cliches hardly deserving of such books. Where does one begin with a publication like this? It is, as the author notes at the beginning, not just a history of “Lanka’s greatest school”, but a fairly comprehensive and I would say eclectic history of Sri Lanka before and after British rule. The author is at his best when he draws attention to the parallel histories of school and country. Needless to say, he is at his best throughout.

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August 14, 2025 · 8:45 pm

When S. Thomas’ College Stormed into the Rugby Arena in Lanka

Sajeewa Jayakody, in  an article entitled “S.Thomas’ College ’s bold beginning in rugby,” August 6, 2025 …. with  highlighting being  an  imposition by The Editor, Thuppahi

The 1961 S. Thomas’ College rugby team captained by Tony Sirimanne….

Back Row: M.Flamer Caldera, C.R. Dickson, H.R. C . D’Silva, M.N.A. Gunasekera, H.L.C. D’Silva, C.L.Perera, G. D’Silva, S.J. P. Guneratne, B.C. Molligoda, R.Jayatileke, N.Dias- Abeysinghe.

Seated: Mr P. Perera (Coach), J. Cader, H.S.Kanagaabai, T.Sirimanne (Captain), The Warden, M.G. Koch, M.Samarasinghe, Mr L.W. Abeywardena. ….

Ground: C. Asirwatham, C.H. Weerasooriya.

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July 4, 2025 · 7:26 pm

Biographical Paths to Lankan History via ‘Hits’ on TPS

A MEMO From Michael Roberts as Editor, Thuppahi,  July 2025

The Word Press system keeps me informed about the HITs on TPS items everyday and also assembles figures for each week. Reviewing these details provides one with a glimpse of internet viewers and their interests. As an exercise with this objective I provide figures of HITS on items carrying biographical tales.

HEREWITh, then, are the figures of such hits — HITS on bio-tales –– during the past week.

 

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April 2, 2025 · 10:29 am

THOMIA’s Frontal Pages ….

The hard copy of THOMIA by Richard Simon in two volumes — all 868 + lxv pages of this searching history — is now in print. Presented here are the initial pages.

 

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March 29, 2025 · 11:28 am

Launching the Book THOMIA … in Colombo

IN  PICTURES   

     the author speaking ….. and signing books

… with Suresh Navaratnam in this  picture

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March 23, 2025 · 12:06 pm

Simon’s THOMIA sways Sri Lanka

Rohan Pethiyagoda, reviewing the new book THOMIA written by Richard Simon, in The Island, 16 March 2025

As schools go, St Thomas’s College Mt Lavinia has, since its inception in 1851, had a disproportionate influence on the affairs of Sri Lanka. In ways both good and bad, it created the modern incarnation of this country. After all, four of our first five prime ministers were Thomians (‘Thomian’, by the way, is a Latin diminutive of Thomas, like Tom in English).

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March 21, 2025 · 4:45 pm

The THOMIA is Flying ….

A Note from Richard Simon, 21 March 2025

It’s taken longer than I expected – just like everything about this project has – but I’m happy to say the first batch of overseas orders was posted via Expedited Mail Service yesterday. We have to do them in batches for reasons of practical logistics: (a) there’s just Lionel the Cat Herder and me to carry these 3.3kg bubble-wrapped and manila-swathed bricks about, and (b) only so much room on the post office parcels desk to accommodate them; not to mention (c) other customers in the place staring daggers at us and our time-consuming transactions. But we got them off anyway, after sacrificing one to the nice lady behind the counter who wanted it opened so that she could see what was inside. Obviously that one did not go off yesterday, so my apologies to Mr T.A. of Castle Hill, NSW, whose nude and blue-bushing copy we brought back home for rewrapping. It will go off in the next batch, sir, I promise.

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March 5, 2025 · 10:05 pm

The Royal-Thomian: A Message from Revd Marc Billimoria

A Message in Facebook from the Retd Warden, Fr. Marc Billimoria. early March 2026 

It is one year this week since I was part of organizing this spectacular sporting event – the blue ribbon and quintessential Big Match, the Battle of the Blues, the Royal-Thomian Cricket encounter, for the last time as Warden. The run up to the event and its aftermath, (particularly in the face of a loss) are equally or even more stressful for those in the ‘hot seats’ at both Mount Lavinia and Reid Avenue, the Warden and the Principal, due to so many ‘behind-the-scenes goings-on’ as well as the expectations of so many different individuals and groups, such as the unfair and unrealistic expectation that amateur schoolboy cricketers will play like professionals or the undue pressure on them to win at any or all cost.

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