Thuppahi's Blog

Abhijato Sensarma… in ESPNcricinfo where the title runs thus: “Under-19 World Cup 2026: Everything you wanted to know but didn’t know whom to ask”

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Item sent by Jeevananda Keerthisena

Venayagampillai Shanmuganayagam, aged 85, passed away peacefully in Markham, Ontario, on January 15, 2026. He was born on May 30, 1940, in Point Pedro, Sri Lanka.

A devoted husband, father, grandfather, and respected academic, Mr. Shanmuganayagam lived a life defined by intellect, principle, and quiet service. Raised in humble beginnings, he learned early the values of perseverance, selflessness, and responsibility, qualities that shaped both his character and his life’s path.

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Priyan Dias, Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Moratuwa, presents a detailed assessment of THOMIA from an Old Boy’s point of view….. presentedin FACEBOOK, 9 January  2026 by Sandagomi Coperahewa

“By the time Reginald De Saram became warden, the school needed a “defender” against populist sentiment. With nationalist feeling running high, there were many who felt that British-public-school-style education, as offered at institutions like S. Thomas’, had at least outlived its time – if it was not actually inhibiting the establishment of a more ‘grassroots’ educational system for the country. Much of Volume II (covering the years 1948-2001) is devoted to this fascinating tension, which was heightened by feelings engendered by Ceylon’s independence from British rule. De Saram is portrayed as fulfilling his ‘defender’ role admirably, in some cases even ‘going on the offensive’ (to remain with the metaphor) and stealing a march on other nationalists. In particular, he responded to the official decree that ‘vernacular’ education be made compulsory at all schools by recruiting an enviable staff of Sinhala teachers from the activist “Hela havula” movement (which sought to ‘purify’ the Sinhala language), which thus found a home at the college. The son of one of the Hela teachers is today Professor of Sinhala at the University of Colombo, having studied at S. Thomas’ himself before gaining his doctorate from Cambridge University.

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Sukumar Shan in CEYLON Then …. & Now

Rukmani Devi an enchanted life of a Star ! On her 103rd Birthday . Rukmani Devi was born as Daisy Rasammah Daniels in Ramboda, Nuwara Eliya to a lower middle class family on the 15th of January 1923. She was the second child in a family of six which included an elder sister Mabel, and a brother named Fredrick (Freddy) and three younger sisters, namely Florence, Helen and Sarojini. She loved singing from a very young age and would always stand by the grammar phone and used to sing the songs played on it.

It is no doubt that she showed the signs of becoming a great singer from a very early age. She sang her first ever song “Siri Buddha gaya vihare” with Rupasinghe Master when she was only 13 years old. This was the stepping stone of a very prosperous singing career. A career which paved the way for her to become, the first Sri Lankan actress to grace the silver screen and also ultimately become an overnight star.

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Postmaster and the Merton Record 2025

FROM THE WARDEN

The last twelve months have brought many global challenges, political, environmental and technological. Much of the time College feels like a haven and the year I’ll describe below has the rhythm and quality that (Covid years apart) will feel very familiar. Global issues inevitably have an impact, but our priority is to respond in ways that protect our community and uphold the excellence at the heart of everything we do.

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Senaka Weeraratne

“A picture speaks a thousand words and within this picture are a thousand stories that we will forever celebrate,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, at the unveiling of the batch photograph of the batch of 1972.

Vintage Photograph of the Colombo Law Faculty (1972) unveiled

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Nandasiri  Jasentuliyana

Today, we pause to reflect and express our deepest appreciation for the remarkable life and legacy of Nihal Seneviratne, former Secretary-General of Parliament, whose passing marks the end of an era in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary history.

Nihal Seneviratne, fondly known as “Galba”, was born in 1934 in Elpitiya and received his early education at Royal College, Colombo. He pursued higher studies at the University of Peradeniya, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1959. He then entered Law College in 1960, where I first met him. The following year, he completed the Advocate Final Examination and took oaths as an Advocate.

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Senaka Weeraratne

Photo – Wilfred Perera, Senaka Weeraratna and Harold Wijesena in front of the Octagon Pavilion(Paththirippuwa) at the Dalada Maligawa (1972)

Observer Beyond Greenland

Trump says he cannot have Russian and Chinese warships near Greenland. What happened to that infamous “freedom of navigation” idea the West, Australian military generals, prime ministers,  ASPI, and the Western media, keep talking about?

The West cannot claim freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait, and off the coast of China, and then claim that wonderful “freedom of navigation” doesn’t apply to Greenland. It either applies everywhere or not at all.

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Niyanthani Kadirgamar

Education occupies a special place in the minds of the general public in Sri Lanka. Thanks to the visionary education reforms put forward by the Report of the Special Committee on Education in 1943 and the consequent Free Education Act of 1945, people from all walks of life have benefited from public education. Thus, no other singular reform agenda evokes such animated interest and vociferous debate as the subject of education.

Estate primary school in disused century-old tea plantation factory building

Given such a context, to propose drastic changes to the public education system without extensive consultation and substantial consensus from interested parties is akin to stirring the hornet’s nest. No government should know this truth better than the present National People’s Power (NPP) government, with its parliamentary group consisting of a significant number of former student leaders, educationists, and academics. Yet, the surprise announcement of the ‘Transforming Education’ reforms by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who also holds the education ministerial portfolio, has caused quite the stir.

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