February 21, 2021 · 11:00 pm

Indian Scaremongering misrepresents China’s Danger

Fair Dinkum in Email Message:  “Michael,  Have you seen this? Do you think it is a fair assessment? Or is this about making India look good and China bad?  In other words,  propaganda.”

India’s main propaganda obsession is to persuade the people of Sri Lanka that China will not be the friends they claim to be.  The wave of xenophobia sweeping the western world today (which India and Japan draw on) is being fanned into an angry flame by Western propagandists. The “Neighbourhood First” concept is stolen from Pompeo’s America First mantra, and adapted to suit India’s national interests. 

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February 21, 2021 · 2:44 pm

Tamara’s Biography from Her Pen in Answer to Wikileak Twists

Tamara Kunanayakam, with black highlights being her para headlines and the others my imposition as Editor, Thuppahi

Dear All,

This is in response to Hiran Cooray and extracts he posted about me from Wiki[eaks]. I would like to make the following corrections and clarifications.

On my family: I was born in Nuwara Eliya (not Colombo), where my father, as a government servant, had been posted. As an active member of the GCSU, he spent his working life as a government servant being transferred from one ‘punishment station’ to another for his trade union activities. In 1947, as Colombo leader of the GCSU (with TB Illangaratne as its President then), he led the Colombo walk-out that led to Sri Lanka’s first General Strike, (Sri Lanka was(then “Ceylon” and still under British colonial rule). Because of his eternal transfers (Polonnaruwa, Matale, Anuradhapura, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya …), until he took early retirement and began working full time training trade unionists, we all lived literally out of our suitcases with my brother and I in boarding school in Colombo. Continue reading →

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February 21, 2021 · 2:15 am

The Anglican Church at S. Thomas’ College

Dishan Joseph,  in Daily News, 20 February 2021

The Anglican Church in Sri Lanka (Church of Ceylon) has made an immense contribution to education. The great school by the sea has educated thousands of young men, imparting in them core values of Christianity. When we read the Bible we find that Jesus was taken to the synagogue by his parents and continued to learn the scriptures, which shows the importance of a holistic education. To all who have been associated with S. Thomas’ College (STC), the magnificent College chapel has influenced their lives, touching them in significant ways. It is the vibrant heart of STC. This beautiful chapel and more importantly the good work done through it enriches the student mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

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February 20, 2021 · 10:56 am

Tamara’s Letter on Events in Geneva August 2011- June 2012

Email Letter from Tamara Kunanayakam, 20 February 2021 … with highlighting emphais from The Editor, Thuppahi

Dear All,  To set the record straights about my time in Geneva. I was there from August 2011 to June 2012. I covered 2=sessions, September 2011 session and March 2012.
In September 2011 there was a US-Canada draft to put Sri Lanka on the Agenda of HRC’s March 2012 session. The US also tried to have the informal Darusman Report made an official UN document by getting the President of HRC to submit it the Council.

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February 19, 2021 · 10:21 am

Ethnic Categories in Sri Lanka: Issues

Chandre Dharmawardana — in a response directed at Michael Roberts’s Comment**

When we make a blood test, we don’t specify all the items found in blood. Depending on the objective, we may list sugar, triglycerides, Heavy cholesterol and light cholesterol. If our objectives were different, we may list ALT, ALP, AST, bilirubin, albumin and total protein. So, what one lists is based on the purpose.

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February 18, 2021 · 9:58 am

Foregone Conclusions from the UNHRC’s Forthcoming Charade in Geneva

Chandre Dharma-wardana – responding to a vibrant EMAIL DISCUSSION among Sri Lankans re what should be done at the forthcoming human rights charade at the UNHRC in Geneva

I personally think it doesn’t matter who Sri Lanka sends to Geneva. This whole thing is NOT based on facts. It is NOT based on what was said, is said or will be said. They KNOW the facts. The UNHRC’s commissioner is not a fool, but a seasoned politician. If she wants, she can get at the facts.

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February 17, 2021 · 3:05 pm

Looming Struggles in Sri Lanka and Geneva Today

Rajan Philips, in Colombo Telegraph, 14 February 2021, where his chosen ttitle is “Geneva Odyssey: More Confrontation Or New Approach?”

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who made the surprising call for the government cancelling the ECT deal with India and Japan, has made another surprising and really a gallant announcement giving the green light for allowing burials for Muslim and Christian victims of Covid-19. If the Ministry of Health has been caught unawares by the PM’s statement in parliament, well, they had better get used to it. But no sooner had the government appeared to have cremated the burial issue than Cardinal Malcom Ranjith raised a new headache for the government – threatening to take his case for justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks to international courts, if there is no assurance of justice through domestic investigations. That is a shocker even though it is no more than a threat for now.

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February 17, 2021 · 2:37 pm

Port Cities of Asia surveyed by Frank Broeeze et al in 1989

Frank Broeze from the University of Western Australia organised a wide-ranging study of port cities in Asia which should not be neglected in exploring the background bearing upon the ongoing politico-economic manoeuvres in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific today.

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February 17, 2021 · 1:53 pm

Murugappan Asylum-Seeker Family on Verge of Legal Victory and A Return to Biloela

Nick Pearson in 9news, 16 February 2021, where the title reads “Biloela family spared deportation for now, but remain on Christmas Island”
The Federal Court has stopped the deportation of a family from the Queensland town of Biloela, upholding a decision made in April 2020 which the Department of Home Affairs had sought to have overturned. But Priya and Nades Murugappan and their two young children will remain in Christmas Island Detention Centre for now. The Murugappan family’s lawyer Carina Ford are now considering an appeal to get the family back to their home in Biloela.

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February 17, 2021 · 10:32 am

The Ramifications behind Philanthropy in Colombo

Kalinga Tudor Silva, ** whose original title reads thus: “Ethnicity and Religion as – beinga chapyDrivers of Charity and Philanthropy in Colombo: Implications for Social Harmony in Sri Lanka” – being achapter in Taejong Kim and Anthea Malakala (eds.): Social Mobility: Experiences and Lessons from Asia. Seoul: Asia Foundation and Korean Development Institute, 2015. pp. 151-174.

(http://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/KDI-TAF-2014Social-Mobility-Experiences-and-Lessons-from-Asia.pdf)

1 — Introduction: Charity and philanthropy act as important welfare mechanisms in all societies. Charity is defined as the impulse toward disinterested private giving (Bornstein 2009), while organized philanthropy reflects notions such as corporate social responsibility, humanitarian values, and concerns about the efficacy of assistance (Fontaine 2007). Both charity and philanthropy (CP) complement and supplement the welfare services of the state, mobilizing the reservoir of goodwill and mutual caring in society. While both may involve universal human values and emotions, such as compassion and sympathy towards those in distress, research has highlighted ethnicity and religion as important drivers of CP in various societies (Bornstein 2007, 2009; Korf 2006).

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