Shannine Daniel, in Roar Media, where the title is “Forts and Fortresses of Ancient and Colonial Sri Lanka,”
Another lesser known ancient fortress is the Mapagala fortress—the ruins of this fortress can be found close to the Sigiriya rock and the Sigiriya tank. Image courtesy triposo.comFiled under architects & architecture, authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, military strategy, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, security, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
This book offers an accurate and easy to follow explanation of how the Tamil Tigers, who are officially known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was defeated. Who were the major players in this conflict? What were the critical strategic decisions that worked? What were the strategic mistakes and their consequences? What actually happened on the battlefield? How did Sri Lanka become the only nation in modern history to completely defeat a terrorist organization? The mind-blowing events of the Sri Lankan civil war are documented in this book to show the truth of how the LTTE terrorist organization was defeated. The defeat of a terrorist organization on the battlefield was so unprecedented that it has rewritten the narrative in the fight against terrorism.
THIS NOTE is from http://www.lulu.com/au/en/shop/damian-tangram/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-tamil-tigers/paperback/product-23830132.html
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, cultural transmission, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, military expenditure, military strategy, modernity & modernization, nationalism, news fabrication, photography, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Capt Gihan Fernando, in Island, 30 December 2018 … where the title reads “Gamini Flies West”
A few days ago Capt. Gamini Gunatileka, flew west. He had a few initials ahead of his surname, but preferred to be known as Gamini. Gamini, fondly known as ‘GG’ or Capt. ‘GG’ in the flying circles, studied at Isipathana College, Colombo 5. Even from his young days he had been ‘plane crazy’. He joined the Flying Training School Ratmalana soon after leaving school. That was where I met him. Like for most of us, it was a long and arduous struggle for ‘GG’ to achieve his ambition of being an Airline Pilot in Air Ceylon. Learning to fly aeroplanes was relatively very expensive even in those days.
Alvin Sallay, in Sunday Times, 30 December 2018, … where the title is “Infinity and beyond with Balmond and Cinnamon Life”
Cecil Balmond has borrowed my pen. I’m watching the master at work, bent over my reporter’s notebook, as he sketches the initial drawing which was the blueprint for the ‘iconic’ Cinnamon Life landmark which is set to transform Colombo by 2020. In a previous story I had written on this project for this newspaper, more than a year ago, I learned that the world-renowned architect had sketched his vision on a paper napkin after visiting the site for the first time back in 2011. “I can’t remember, but it must be true, for I tend to do very small drawings at the beginning when I imagine something,” smiles Balmond when I ask him if the story of the genesis of Cinnamon Life is true.
Cecil Balmond. Pic by M.D. Nissanka
Captain Chandra Godakanda Arachchi**, in Island, 31 December 2018, where the title is “I cry for Galle Fort”
The sun rises magnificently above Rumassala. The wind roars during Monsoon with white horses beautifully rolling over. Catamarans are in the bay and children straggle to school. Tourists roam around in Fort. What a beautiful place the Galle Fort used to be when I grew up in the 1960s and first half of 1970s. My days in Galle were very special and precious to me and, therefore, I make it a point to visit Galle regularly even though I have been out of the country, most of my life, since I left Galle in 1975.
Text of Letter from Ben Colby to Melbourne Cricket Club, 30 December 2018 … see with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi and Colby bio-data at end
Dear Melbourne Cricket Club,
I am writing in relation to the Crowds Complaint Process at the MCG and the maladministration of it by Victoria Police that I witnessed in Bay M21 during the afternoon of Saturday 29th of December 2018. Indian cricket supporters were threatened with eviction and fines by a police sergeant, allegedly following the Crowds Complaint Process, for no apparent reason other than that they were supporting the Indian men’s cricket team. Supporters of the Australian men’s cricket team behaving in the same manner in Bay M21 were not targeted by police. Continue reading
Michael Roberts
On different occasions friends have indicated that I should not bother to address personalized and vituperative attacks. In this instance I am disregarding this well-meant advice. For one the instances I am addressing are those arising from an essay in Colombo Telegraph which was inspired by Bill Deutrom’s observation that my analysis in another article “[would] not convince people who have already made up their mind based on emotion, ethnicity or with a hatred for Rajapaksa.”
Several of the comments provide ample evidence for Bill’s summing up. But we can decipher them more closely to read the lines of thought driving some of these individuals (mostly guys). That is my inquiry here – deciphering hardcore prejudice in what is necessarily a conjectural manner. I stress that I am addressing the Colombo Telegraph comments that reached the world up to 16th December (Dayan Jayatilleka’s note being the last embraced — one not pertinent to this essay).[1]
Vanderpoorten 
Sankaralingam
Filed under accountability, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, ethnicity, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, world events & processes
Filed under accountability, life stories, sri lankan society, unusual people
In the 1950’s, Ceylon has just gained independence from the British Raj, the fruits of which were yet to be seen. Many of the cultural influences of the British were still apparent, including speaking the English language, clothing styles, and partaking in English customs and holidays.
Galle Face Hotel. Image courtesy luxuryhotelsassociation
Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, cultural transmission, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
thuppahi
