Tony Donaldson
A propaganda piece published in The Australian on 2 October 2020. depicted the Pope as an evil monster with horns, as if the CCP is controlling him
.
1) China is evil 2) The Vatican have an agreement with China 3) Therefore, the Vatican and Pope is evil. This is a load of baloney .
Colonel PD Ramanayake
Gilbert Clyde Roberts son of the late Mr. T. W. Roberts C. C. S. and brother of Mr. T. F. C. Roberts, District Judge, was born in Barbados[1] where he had his early education. He came to Sri Lanka fresh from the University of Durham, after obtaining a degree in Western Classics. He joined the Staff of St. John’s College, Panadura when Cyril A. Jansz (senior) was the principal. In addition to being Prefect of Games at St. John’s, he taught English and Latin in the Cambridge and London Matriculation forms of the school. 
Michael Roberts
Punchibanda Meegaskumbura would not demand a Professor’s title before his name if he could see us today. He was of the Sinhala people and a man for all peoples – rooted in simplicity, but blessed with many skills. These knowledges he readily made available to all and sundry as his colleague in arms within the Sinhala literary field, KNO Dharmadasa has made clear in The Island. My own plaudits will appear below…. BUT Chandra R. de Silva has provided the world with as succinct and incisive summary of Punchi’s contribution to research and scholarship as anyone could ask for.
KNO Dharmadasa, in The Island, 2 October 2020, …. https://island.lk/prof-meegaskumbura/
Professor P.B.Meegaskumbura, who passed away on the 20th of October after ailing for sometime, is well known among Sri Lankan scholars as an academic who has contributed immensely to expand the vistas of Sinhala Studies. His research and publications include studies of the many branches of Linguistics, the study of Sinhala Classics, Buddhist History, Semantics, Stylistics, and the Society and Culture of the Veddas. Whatever he wrote, whether in Sinhala or English, bore the hall mark of high quality.
Sam Samarasinghe aka SWR de Samarasinghe, in Daily Mirror, 20 October 2020, where the title reads “Socio-Economic Implications of the 20A”
The draft 20th Amendment (20A) to the Constitution is being opposed by the main opposition parties and some segments of civil society and professional groups. The most politically significant opposition comes from some leaders of the Sangha who played a major role in the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as President. They want a new constitution as the SLPP promised, but not the 20th Amendment. In general, the main criticism of 20A is that it would create an authoritarian Government run by the Executive President without the usual checks and balances that the three main branches of government, legislature, executive and judiciary have in a normal democracy.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, economic processes, education, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Roel Raymond, in RoarMedia, 26 February 2018, with this title “Portuguese-Sri Lankan Surnames And Their Meanings” ….. https://roar.media/english/life/history/portuguese-sri-lankan-surnames-and-their-meanings
The Portuguese arrived in Ceylon, or Ceilão, as they called it, by chance. In 1505, a fleet commanded by Lourenço de Almeida—the son of Francisco de Almeida, the first viceroy of Portuguese India—was blown into Galle by adverse winds. It was thirteen years later, in 1518, that the Portuguese established formal contact with the Kingdom of Kotte, ruled by Vira Parakrama Bahu, and were permitted to build a fort in Colombo.
Filed under Afro-Asians, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, migrant experiences, performance, politIcal discourse, Portuguese imperialism, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
A de luxe edition of FACETS OF CEYLON HISTORY THROUGH THE LETTERS OF JERONIS PIERIS, by Michael Roberts, has been printed by Bay Owl Press in 2020 to replace the 1976 edn and is available for Rs 6500/ at Turf Equipment Ltd, 17A, Swarna Road, Colombo 6 as well as Barefoot, Cargills Book City, Sarasavi, Vijitha Yapa, Gallery Café bookshop, JamFruitTree, Kalaya, Pendi & Urban Island…. while foreign purchases could be secured via http://www.pererahussein.com.
The main text is the same as in 1976; but the index has been extended and numerous photographs of historical value have been added.
Filed under Uncategorized
Earlson Forbes,** Courtesy of The Ceylankan, XXIII: 3, August 2020, where the title differs a mite
Ceylon’s third Prime Minister, Sir John Kotelawela, was known as an outspoken, strong and, as some would say, a flamboyant leader. He had a chance of being the second Prime Minister of Ceylon when the first Prime Minister of Independent Ceylon, D. S. Senanayake, passed away in 1952. Sir John was a strong contender for the vacant position. However, he was overlooked for appointment and the son of D. S. Senanayake , Dudley Senanayake, was appointed to the position. As fate would have it, Sir John did not have to wait long for his second shot at the Prime Ministership. Dudley Senanayake’s period as Prime Minister was riddled with civil unrest. In 1953, he resigned and this time around Sir John was chosen as the third Prime Minister of Ceylon.
Filed under Uncategorized
Fair Dinkum
 |
|||
This cartoon depicts a horrified Scott Morrison gazing at the wonderful NZ leader Jacinda Ardern, who stands for true political values, humanity and descency – i.e. the kind of values Scott Morrison and the far right detest.
Filed under accountability, world events & processes
NOTE from Michael Roberts, 20 October 2020:
About a week back a Sri Lankan circuit of avid emailers presented an You Tube Video re China and the Covid virus. SEE ….
While I circulated it, I had immediate reservations –albeit without expertise on China. For ONE. The tentative speculative style of the charges levelled at China raised my suspicions: I read that as a technique meant to cajole readers into accepting the allegations. For ANOTHER, I had enough knowledge on China to laugh at the claim that Shanghai and Beijing were/are close to Wuhan – I have visited both cities as a tourist.
Filed under Uncategorized
thuppahi
