September 16, 2019 · 12:50 am

Recalling Professor Hasbullah’s Educational Work

MA Nuhman, in Colombo Telegraph, 11 September 2019, where the title is “Remembering Professor S H Hasbullah”

Remembering my dear friend Hasbullah (11.09.1950–25.08.2018) is personally a very emotional, difficult and painful task for me. We were very close and intimate friends for nearly three decades.   Hasbullah’s untimely sudden death was a great loss to me. Even after one year of his demise my memories of him are fresh and heavy in my mind. It may take a long time for me to recover, for he made an impact on my life.  He was such a dynamic personality.

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September 15, 2019 · 2:36 pm

Gotabaya read as An Autocrat in the Wings

Sarath De Alwis, in Sunday Observer, 14 September 2019, where the title runs “Death of Truth at Shangri-La”

Actioning the Blueprint’ was the title of the presentation. The venue was the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo. The packed audience included everybody who was somebody in industry, commerce, and other professional disciplines.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a determined contender. He is well on his way to the presidency; a hazardous prospect that should send chills down the spines of those who cherish essential human freedoms, specifically the freedom from fear that interferes with the citizen’s right of democratic dissent. This essay is intended for my fellow citizens who are not morons to be mesmerized by the magic of a monster.Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a determined contender. He is well on his way to the presidency; a hazardous prospect that should send chills down the spines of those who cherish essential human freedoms, specifically the freedom from fear that interferes with the citizen’s right of democratic dissent.

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September 15, 2019 · 11:24 am

Brits who bat for Sri Lanka on the Political Front: FOSLA

Rajeewa Jayaweera, in Sunday Island, 14 September 2019, where the title is “FOSLA batting for Sri Lanka”

Friends of Sri Lanka Association (FOSLA) is a non-political association comprising of a diverse group of British nationals. They all are drawn together by a shared common interest in Sri Lanka. In 1987, several leading Englishmen including Sir John Nicholas, a former British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka (1979-1984) and a Sri Lanka-born lawyer had been invited to the High Commission by the then High Commissioner Chandra Monerawela. Former Foreign Minister ACS Hameed had met them and urged this group of Sri Lanka enthusiasts to form an association. FOSLA was the outcome of this meeting (http:/HYPERLINK “https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fosla.org.uk%2F&data=02%7C01%7 %7Cbe1c60dbcb2e4ec2a3e008d730ce3620%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637031534534473663&sdata=RK%2BwgG%2BswgbtzHwoZn0JowKSMsy6L1FQSDsriV%2FwFjA%3D&reserved=0″/www.fosla.org.uk/).

L to R: John Field (BHC 1991-6), HE Manisha Gunasekera (Sri Lankan HC to the UK), Sir Peter Heap (FOSLA Chairman), Linda Duffield (BHC 1999-2002) and Jame Dauris (BHC 2015-19) at the recent luncheon.

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September 15, 2019 · 9:31 am

The Loch Ness Monster Emerges Again … To be Undermined

Matthew Weaver, in The Guardian, 6 & 9 September 2019 with this title “Loch Ness monster could be a giant eel, say scientists”

The Loch Ness monster could be a giant eel, according to a fishy new theory that will keep Highland tourists guessing. In one of the biggest DNA studies of its kind, a team of scientists from New Zealand’s Otago University found the presence of about 3,000 species in the deep murky waters of the Scottish loch. Most of the creatures were very small, and while they did detect DNA from pigs, deer, sticklebacks and humans, there were no monsters. But Prof Neil Gemmell, who led the study, said he couldn’t rule out a theory that eels in the loch have grown to an extreme size.

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September 13, 2019 · 3:25 pm

Namel Weeramuni: Life and Theatre, Theatre as Life

Nandasiri Jasentuliyana aka “Nandi,” in Sunday Times, 1 September 2019, where the title is “A Legendary Author’s Autobiography”

Namel Weeramuini’s compelling autobiography was launched on his 85th birthday, before a large audience at the Namel Malini Punchi Theatre yesterday.We live in a global village where the main road has many forks and takes us on many incredible journeys. It is increasingly difficult to know the final destination of these journeys. It means we choose the life we want for ourselves often amid uncertainty.

 Namel Weeramuni Attorney at Law

 

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September 13, 2019 · 10:10 am

Dr Narendran Rajasingham: A Tamil Sri Lankan Indomitable and Sincere

 Michael Roberts, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph, 13  September 2019, where it has a different title

This NOTE is a felicitation of Dr Rajasingham Narendran – a presentation that is long overdue. Narendran was a graduate from Peradeniya University’s Agriculture Faculty, a food scientist with international expertise who was also a fearless advocate for the Sri Lankan Tamil peoples circumscribed within a firm Sri Lankan perspective. He stood for truth in reportage and brought a clinical mind to the appraisal of horrendous circumstances – among them the decomposition of dead bodies in war-torn locales. Continue reading →

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September 11, 2019 · 1:50 pm

Ceylon University College Dons in 1933: A Photo that is A Treasure Trove

We are indebted to Thiru Arumugam and the latest issue of THE CEYLANKAN produced by the Ceylon Society of Australia for the two photographs reproduced here. I invite readers and old University personnel to provide pertinent bio-data on any of the individuals here who served the University and society over the next few decades.  I will be initiating this task below as time goes by.

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September 11, 2019 · 11:03 am

Send them to Lanka? Aussie Opinion Poll on the Nadesalingam Murugappan Case

Geoff Chambers in The Australian, 10 September 2019, where the heading runs “Most back kicking out asylum-seekers who aren’t refugees”

Most Australians believe that asylum-seekers deemed not to be genuine refugees should be deported regardless of other considerations. A Newspoll survey conducted last week showed 64 per cent of voters believe asylum-seekers who are considered by the courts to not be refugees should be deported, with 24 per cent saying they should be allowed to settle in Australia.

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September 11, 2019 · 10:49 am

A Testing Issue: The Nadesalingam Murugappan Asylum Claim

ONE = Simon Benson & Rosie Lewis, in The Australian, 4 September 2019, where the title runs “Tamil asylum case sets path for 6000 others”

Scott Morrison has vowed to send home more than 6000 illegal immigrants who have had their refugee claims rejected, as he brushed off Labor attempts to drag his religious faith into the debate over the deportation of a Sri Lankan family. The Australian revealed on Wednesday that those 6000 asylum-seekers are engaged in similar legal ­appeals to that of the Tamil family who will learn today whether their ­eleventh-hour Federal Court bid to prevent their ­deportation has succeeded.

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September 11, 2019 · 6:46 am

A Sob Story? Hodge in Batticaloa batting for the Nadeshalingam Family

Amanda Hodge in The Weekend Australian, 7/8th September 2019, where the title is “Mum’s fears for asylum son tainted by time with Tamil Tigers”

On the scuffed green walls of Nadeshalingam Murugappan’s family home in eastern Sri Lanka, a maxim written in English — a language none of the occupants can read — hangs above the television in a room full of anxious ­relatives. It says: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Whether “Nades” and his wife Kokilapathmapriya “Priya” Nadarasa end up back in the rural Sri Lankan district of Batticaloa they fled separately years ago — this time with two Australian-born daughters in tow — could be decided before the end of the month.

Nadeshalingam ‘Nades’ Murugappan’s mother Alakamma in the family’s village home in Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka. Picture: Benislos Thushan

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