Category Archives: transport and communications

The Global Contest for Influence/Power

Fair Dinkum

What is astonishing is that while China and Europe are doing trade to the tune of 783 billion, the US and NATO  are waging war to the combined tune of 500 billion. One is about construction,  the other destruction. One is about peaceful cooperation,  the other is about perpetual war.

The 500 billion from the US/NATO has all gone up in smoke with 500,000 dead Ukrainians and about 100,000 dead Russians (rough estimates), and the loss of Ukraine looming on the horizon.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, China and Chinese influences, disparagement, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, modernity & modernization, Pacific Ocean politics, politIcal discourse, power politics, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes

Amiable Academic Reciprocities: Peebles & Roberts, 1970

Michael Roberts

The academic world and its scholarship is marked by cooperative work as well as animosities and rivalry – whether personal or based on political affiliations. The Sri Lankan scenario was/is no different. As I participated in this environment as a lecturer in History at Peradeniya University,[1] I was extremely fortunate in: (A) benefitting from a salubrious physical setting and a favourable arrangement of buildings and a super library; and (B) a bunch of dons who were as inspiring as amiable –so that the “Senior Common Room’ in the Faculty of Arts was not only a spot for invigorating tea, but also a site for the exchange of ideas.

Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, historical interpretation, island economy, land policies, language policies, Left politics, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, plantations, plural society, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, teaching profession, transport and communications

“Colonization and Ethnic Conflict in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka” – Article in 1990

Patrick Peebles in a refereed article in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Feb., 1990), pp. 30-55 …. which John De Silva in Melbourne, my Aloysian sporting mate, has worked on to make it feasible for me to present it in the Thuppahi format-style. The supporting Maps & Diagrams are presented via web-references, while the web-reference to the article as a whole is placed herein in pdf format.

Sri LANKA’S INABILITY to contain ethnic violence as it escalated from sporadic terrorism to mob violence to civil war in recent years has disheartened observers who had looked to the nation as a success story of social and political development. In retrospect, Sri Lanka lacked effective local institutions to integrate the society, and the Sinhalese elite relied on welfare and preferential policies for the Sinhalese majority to maintain power. These alienated the minorities and resulted in Tamil demands for a separate state. 1

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, colonisation schemes, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, heritage, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, life stories, plural society, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, transport and communications, working class conditions, world events & processes

Idyllic Explorations: Sri Lanka’s Marvellous Ruins & Monuments

Bernard VanCuylenberg, whose chosen title for this essay was  “An Odyssey – A Search for Heritage” …. with pictorial illutrations selected in arbitrary manner by the Editor, Thuppahi

Pursuant to the articles which I wrote last year, “An Odyssey – A Search for Heritage, parts 1 and 2 “) following a foray into the cornucopia of ruins buried in deep jungle well off the beaten track, I embarked on a similar venture in March this year. I am passionately moved by the treasure trove of what could be the best in ancient Sinhala civilization, possibly the life force of Sinhala culture which remains buried in the sands still awaiting the archaeologists spade, and I wish to share my experience with a wider circle of lovers of history. Parting the veil of time, an unknown sculptor, architect, engineer, master craftsman, even a poet reached out to me and held my hand leading me across the centuries in my quest.
 Degaldoruva …. off Kandy

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, paintings, photography, pilgrimages, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Pictorials: Roman Szechowycz in the Dry Zone in the 1950s

Michael Roberts

Dr Roman Szechowycz and  his brother served the newly independent island of Ceylon in its hydraulic agriculture projects in the Dry Zone in the period 1950 to 1961 …. mostly from a base at Inginiyagala in the Eastern Province where the Gal Oya Tank was constructed. We are fortunate to have some photographic ‘asides’ of a “personnel nature” — so to speak — associated with this work  The detailed descriptions presented elsewhere in TPS: viz.; …..

Experiences: Working on the Gal Oya Project in Ceylon, 1950-61

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, commoditification, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, irrigation, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, photography, politIcal discourse, population, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

For Ceylon. Roman Szechowycz in Gal Oya, 1950-61

Andreas Szechowycz … detailing his father’s dedicated work in the Gal Oya Project in the 1950s and in communication with  Michael Roberts in ways that mark his deep attachment to the island

Group Photo – Dr. Roman Szechowycz in middle.

L-R: Mr. (not legible), Mr. P. W. Richards, Mr. Coel Menai North Wales UK, Dr. Roman Szechowycz, Dr. A. J. Kostreamaks Bongor, Mr.. Anwari Dilmy Indonesia, Mr. B. A. Abeyvickram Colombo, Mr. R. A. DeRosaryro Colombo

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under architects & architecture, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, photography, politIcal discourse, population, rehabilitation, sri lankan society, transport and communications, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes

For Colombo … the DALI shatters the Bridge at Baltimore: Dramatic Scenario

HOT PRESS …. Numerous News Items

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, landscape wondrous, life stories, security, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, trauma, world events & processes

Mareeba: An Albanian Muslim Community in Outback Queensland

VISIT … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ZvzG1WtlM

756,306 views Mar 13, 2024

OnePath Network travelled all the way over to North Queensland to meet with the Muslim Community of Mareeba. They are a small rural community of Albanian farmers that have been here for over 100 years. Their story is nothing short of inspirational for Muslims around the world. We uncovered how they not only were able to blend in so flawlessly into Australian culture but also the secret behind their ability to survive for so many generations. Enjoy their story! Read more real stories from right here in Australia of how local Zakat has transformed peoples lives, empowering generations to come:

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Australian culture, australian media, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, religiosity, tolerance, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Western Imperial Dominance: Aggressive Intervention from Kosovo then to Kienen Island now

 Mr X ... with the title as well as highlights being imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi 

 In the West, a narrative has been built up that China is an “aggressor” – an important word in international law because if Country A can frame a narrative that convinces the world Country B is “an aggressor” then Country A is well on the way to providing justification for war or even toppling Country B’s government, which is precisely what US Government has been doing for the past seven decades. The illegal wars in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yugoslavia are recent examples.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, Britain's politics, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, conspiracies, economic processes, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, law of armed conflict, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, nuclear strikes & war, Pacific Ocean issues, politIcal discourse, power politics, sea warfare, security, self-reflexivity, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes, zealotry

Palaly Airport as Site for SLAF Exhibition

Ananth Palakidnar in Daily News, 10 March 2024 … with highlighting emphasis being the work of the Editor Thuppahi

The Sri Lanka Air Force has chosen the city of Jaffna to include in its 73rd-anniversary celebration by organising an exhibition of the SLAF at the historic Muttraveli area around the Dutch Fort of Jaffna.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under centre-periphery relations, communal relations, counter-insurgency, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, insurrections, landscape wondrous, life stories, military strategy, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, terrorism, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes