Category Archives: welfare & philanthophy

April 27, 2024 · 1:52 am

Ranasinghe Premadasa: As Pragmatic as Visionary in Political Method

Dr. Mahim Mendis, in Daily FT, 26 April 2024 …. where the title runs thus: “Revivial of Premadasism the Way Forward for Sri Lanka,”

…in DailyFT, 26 April Truly cultured men and women have the capacity to be thankful for the progressive measures taken by Ranasinghe Premadasa. He was a true embodiment of Social Democracy, governing the entire social, political, cultural, and moral order. He was not a mere propagator of a Social Market Economy, when he took over leadership from a right wing, J.R. Jayewardene led UNP that tried to dislodge Deputy Leader Premadasa from his well-earned Presidential candidature in 1989. The same right-wing forces in the UNP, tried to impeach him together with Feudalist sympathisers, who lost all their social status due to Premadasaism

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, democratic measures, economic processes, education, governance, historical interpretation, language policies, life stories, parliamentary elections, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions

April 17, 2024 · 9:50 pm

Sri Lanka in Cavernous Economic Chasm

Ahilan Kadirgamar in Q and A with Hans Dembowski …. in Q and A at https://www.dandc.eu/en/contributors/ahilan-kadirgamar

 

Sri Lanka’s government defaulted in April 2022. How is the economy doing today?
The situation is dire. Sri Lanka’s GDP contracted by 7.8 % last year and is contracting this year as well. Some 500,000 formal-sector jobs have been lost. Another 1 million informal jobs were lost in the construction sector. Cost of living has risen by over 70 % with the crisis. According to the World Bank, the poverty rate doubled to 25 % last year, and the UNDP reckons that multidimensional poverty now affects over half of our people. Multidimensional poverty takes account of things like child mortality, nutrition, school attendance and consumption patterns.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan scoiety, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

April 6, 2024 · 3:43 am

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

April 1, 2024 · 6:19 pm

Campaign to Promote “Malaiyaha Thamilar” Identity

Diana Joseph in Groundviews, 25 March 2024 ….where the title runs thus :  “Identity Crisis of the Malaiyaha Thamilar Community” … reproduced here with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

People of Tamil descent raised on plantations have endured a long history of discrimination, exploitation and violence tracing back to the era of colonization. The younger generation, both men and women, expresses a preference for employment opportunities in urban areas or Middle Eastern countries as labourers rather than on plantations. Unfortunately, this pursuit often results in their exploitation and entrapment in modern day slavery, a cyclical pattern that has persisted for over two centuries.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, discrimination, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes

March 29, 2024 · 1:39 pm

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

March 20, 2024 · 8:01 pm

Colombo Ladies serving Hindu Ladies College in Jaffna

Goolbai Gunasekara in The ISLAND Newspaper, 17 March 2024 … entitled “My time at Hindu Ladies College”

Following in her mother, Clara Gunaskara nee Motwani’s footsteps, principal and teacher Goolbai Gunasekara revolutionised the sphere of English education in Sri Lanka …. & this account is her trip down memory lane.

Mrs. Visaladhy Sivagurunathan, a philanthropic Hindu lady, had gifted the property of Hindu Ladies’ College to the school in 1943. [My] Mother […. of the Motwani  lineage] …. was the school’s fifth Principal. Under her, the first Past Pupils’ Association was formed, with Mrs. Jeevaratnam Rasiah as its first President. Miss Thambu (Mother’s long suffering Tamil tutor) was its Secretary. Just recently, I was invited to speak to the Colombo branch of the HLC alumni.

I met a former HLC teacher there — Mrs Navaratna, formerly Leela Ponniah — along with many old friends. The reverence in which Mother was held was very heartwarming, and it was a moving experience to hear the stories they related of instances in which Mother had touched — and sometimes directed — their lives.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Aboriginality, anti-racism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, cultural transmission, education, education policy, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, teaching profession, travelogue, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, women in ethnic conflcits

February 4, 2024 · 2:28 pm

Sri Lanka in IMF-Western Stranglehold

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake in The Sunday Island, 4 February 2024, where the title runs thus: “Of Elections, Bond scams, and Money Politics:  The IMF and the Anatomy of Default @ 75 …. Default as Hybrid Economic Warfare” … with the highlights in purple being impositions by The Editor of Thuppahi and those in red Darini’s very own.**

With the wisdom of hindsight, the Root Causes of Sri Lanka’s first ever Sovereign Default, staged three years ago on the eve of 75 years of ‘Independence’ from the British Raj are clearly discernible.

Political cartoon _ Satire, Humor, Criticism _ Britannica

Ancient tree roots wrapped around a large boulder in the French alps Stock Photo – Alamy

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, electoral structures, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, IMF as monster, island economy, life stories, modernity & modernization, NGOs, parliamentary elections, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

December 28, 2023 · 2:25 pm

Overlordship & Land Adjudication in the NCP of Lanka in the Recent Past

Professor Amarasiri De Silva in Book Review in Daily Mirror, 27 December 2023, of Lokubanda Tillakaratne: Rata Sabhawa of Nuwarakalaviya – Judicature in a Princely Province: An Ethnographical and Historical Reading, 2023,  322 pages, ISBN 9798218157654,  …. with highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

In antiquity, Sri Lankan Kings wielded authority not only as sovereigns, but also as architects of legal frameworks and systems of justice. Their edicts [were] often articulated verbally or inscribed on enduring rock surfaces, [and] gave rise to fields of law and administration that permeated the kingdom. However, the distant corners of the country, secluded from the immediate influence of royal decrees, presented a different reality.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, demography, devolution, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, Sri Lankan scoiety, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy

December 24, 2023 · 12:01 am

A Suppository FOR An Innocent’s Arse in England

A Suffering Ignoramus

About half a century back I was driving with my wife to Bath when I found myself struggling to breathe. We drove immediately to the Bath hospital where I joined the Emergency queue. The same problem persisted: fit and well but couldn’t breathe! I quickly saw that the others in the queue were far worse off than I was. One had a deep gash in his neck; another a badly wounded arm, etc, etc. My non-breathing was trivial to everyone except myself!

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, charitable outreach, cultural transmission, doctoring evidence, female empowerment, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, performance, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, tolerance, trauma, welfare & philanthophy, world affairs

December 19, 2023 · 12:02 am

A Revolutionary Architect: Minnette De Silva

Randima Attygalle, in DailyFT, 30 November 2023, where the title runs thus: “Celebrating A Revolitonary Housing Feat” ..… with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Endorsed by the World Monuments Fund, a first for Sri Lanka, ‘88 Acres’, the latest exhibition by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka (MMCA) resurrects the Watapuluwa Housing Scheme in Kandy, a forgotten watershed in the contemporary history of Sri Lanka that heralded a new form of social housing here at home. ‘88 Acres’ explores how this sprawling hillside development completed in 1958, was ahead of its time in providing affordable accommodation for a diverse ethno-religious community of public servants in Sri Lanka. The exercise is also a celebration of its unsung designer Minnette de Silva, Sri Lanka’s first woman architect, the first Asian woman to be elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and one of the two women in the world at that time to have an architecture practice in her own name.

 

From left: MMCA Sri Lanka Assistant Curator Thinal Sajeewa, Chief Curator Sharmini Pereira, and Assistant Curator Ritchell Marcelline

 

 

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes