Your chance to support a 2024 a film on a great Sri Lankan artist, conservationist and visionary, Nihal Fernando (1927-2015).
In search of Nihal Fernando …. A documentary film by Martin Pieris
Kamindu Mendis reaches Bradman’s Heights
AAPNewswire: “Kamindu equals Bradman landmark as Sri Lanka dominate” 27 September 2024
1930: Australian cricketer Don Bradman (1908 – 2001) batting during a test match against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Sir Donald Bradman was the first cricketer to be knighted for his services to cricket, in 1949. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
At Galle: Second Test …. Day One
ITEM in The Island Newspaper, 27 September 2024
A trademark and enterprising century from Dinesh Chandimal led Sri Lanka’s charge towards a big score after winning the toss, making New Zealand rue multiple lapses in the field on the opening day in Galle.
Chandimal’s 16th Test century saw him switch gears across the first two sessions to help the hosts finish on a commanding 306 for 3, helped by unbeaten half-centuries from Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis.
Filed under cricket selections, life stories, performance, Sri Lankan cricket
Presidential Election Outcome in Sri Lanka: Reactions From Individual Lankan Friends
A: From An Ex-Army Officer in USA, 26 Sept 2024
Quite an achievement for AKD! In the 2019 presidential election, the JVP vote plus ‘also ran’ others was less than 6%. SEE ……………………………………………… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Sri_Lankan_presidential_election
I think it is a good result for the nation. The people were sick and tired of the corrupt and inept political elites and the crony capitalists. The portly ‘monkeys’ that occupied the palaces and travelled around in gilded coaches will be kicked out!
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, democratic measures, economic processes, governance, island economy, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, parliamentary elections, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, press freedom, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance, world events & processes
The Personnel Behind THE CEYLON JOURNAL
Thuppahi is pleased to present a photo of the key personnel located in Sri Lanka who were involved in launching the new cutting/edge academic venture known as THE CEYLON JOURNAL this year.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, demography, discrimination, economic processes, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, photography, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, travelogue, unusual people, women in ethnic conflcits, working class conditions, world events & processes
Ceylonese Migrants to Australia in the 1950s and 1960s
Earlson Forbes, whose title in THE CEYLANKAN, vol 27/2, May 2024 is “Fortress White Australia: What early Ceylonese migrants [1949 t0 1969] were up against” … now placed in TPS in a revised form to accomodate illustrations that proved recalcitrant
The Six Australian Colonies came together on the 1st of January 1901 to form the independent Nation of the Commonwealth of Australia. From 1788 (First Fleet arrival at Sydney Cove) to the time of Federation, Australia was populated by convict and free settlers almost exclusively from Britain. The 1901 census put the population at 3.7 million. Aboriginals were not counted in this census. A small percentage of the population was made up of Pacific Islanders and Chinese. The Chinese entered Australia in the second half of the 19th century at the time of the Gold Rush in Australia (mid-19th century) and in the years following. Between 1851 and 1870 about 50,000 Chinese were estimated to have entered Australia. Pacific Islanders had been brought to Australia in the second half of the 19th century as labourers.
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, historical interpretation, life stories, Pacific Ocean issues, racism, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, working class conditions, world events & processes
Cyril Ponnamperuma: An Incisive Scientific Researcher ….. In World Class
Sachi Sri Kantha
This is an updated version of a manuscript, previously submitted to the Ceylon Medical Journal in 1996. It was rejected for publication by the then editorial team. I was not informed of any specific reason for rejection, by the then co-editor Prof. Colvin Goonaratna. My perception was, lack of a medical qualification by Prof. Cyril Ponnamperuma, could have been one reason. I also provide a rare NASA photo of Prof Ponnamperuma with Soviet biochemist Alexander Oparin (1894-1980), probably taken in October 1963, when the latter visited Florida for a conference.
Deciphering the Past to Secure Reform in the Present
Michael Roberts
Let me suggest that in any country one cannot address the fundamental problems of the present without understanding its immediate past. This prescription was/is inherent in an article that I penned for the Indian journal FRONTLINE in June 2009 one month after the LTTE had been vanquished in war (1). Its title was “Some Pillars for the Future.”
On re-reading this essay today in September 2024, I affirm that it is marked by good sense and presents several worthwhile propositions. It is reproduced here for others to assess and comment critically on its arguments — standing now in the midst of the many developments and changes between 2009 and 2024. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, communal relations, Eelam, ethnicity, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Tamil civilians, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, truth as casualty of war, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
The Branding of Islamic Migrants to Ceylon Over the Centuries
WHEN Shamara Wettimuny’s article in the History Workshop Journal entitled “The Colonial History of Islamophobic Slurs in Sri Lanka” …. was placed in FACEBOOK it received the following set of comments: some prejudiced against and some in favour. The ethnic difference in the authors is quite marked and thereby marks the depth of ethnicity in the island context …. TODAY.
Moving at a tangent, I stress that the research work that generated the book by Roberts, Colin-Thome & Raheem which is entitled People Inbtween (1989 Sarvodaya) becomes profoundly relevant to this set of engagements. Note that my deployment of the THUPPAHI concept for my web-site’s brand name emerged from this body of research. So, do visit this entry as well: https://thuppahis.com/why-thuppahi/
The original article can be access in THUPPAHI at ………………… https://thuppahis.com/2020/09/07/experiencing-denigration-in-sri-lanka-the-muslims-yesterday-and-today/
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, discrimination, disparagement, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, immigration, Indian traditions, Islamic fundamentalism, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, legal issues, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, religiosity, riots and pogroms, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, taking the piss, Tamil migration, tolerance, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, violence of language, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry
Dhananjaya’s Captaincy Gave Sri Lanka The Edge
Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, 23 September 2024, where the title runs thus: “Dhananjaya de Silva’s Sri Lanka deliver in contrasting conditions to inch up WTC table,” …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
After back-to-back wins at The Oval and in Galle, they are third. They have tough assignments ahead, but will now know those games are not unwinnable, mainly thanks to their versatile bowling.
Sri Lanka’s cricketer Dhananjaya de Silva celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) during the third day of the final cricket Test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at P. Sara Oval stadium in Colombo on August 24, 2019. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP) (Photo credit should read LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images)
In July last year Sri Lanka began their World Test Champion cycle, and the start could barely have been more disheartening. In Galle, they ran into a Saud Shakeel double-hundred, losing by four wickets. At the SSC next up, they fell over meekly twice, though in one of those innings they had had to contend with some furious Naseem Shah reverse-swing.
