April 3, 2018 · 2:01 pm

Looking Down a Ship’s Cannon: Vice Admiral Travis Sinniah in Q and A

Manjula Fernando, in Sunday Observer, 27 August 2017, where the title is “”I was always the target of the LTTE” …. Note: the highlighting is my imposition and see additional references at the end — Editor, Thuppahi

Speaking about his ascension to become the topmost Naval officer in the country, the son of a Tamil Naval doctor who developed a love for the service as a little boy, he says, “I was destined to be a front line executive officer to go out to sea, and carry out certain missions which would have changed the tide of the war with the LTTE.”

 

MANJULA FERNANDO’s QUESTIONS

Q: There is a popular perception that war heroes are born in a particular genre of schools. Are you the first Trinitian to be appointed to this prestigious post?

As the Navy Commander yes, I am the first. But, it doesn’t mean Trinitians haven’t gone to war. Trititians have fought in World War 1 as well as WW 11. Many Trinitians have served in the security forces but unfortunately, none have lived long enough to rise to the top. There were Trinitians, like Commander Shanti Bahar, Gen. Densil Kobbekaduwa and Lieutenant General Parami Kulatunga who made the ultimate sacrifice for the people of this country. I represent all of them. Continue reading →

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April 2, 2018 · 11:46 am

In Appreciation of My Talented Sister, Audrey

Michael Roberts, courtesy of the Sunday Times, 1 April 2018, where the title is “Snapshots of a life lived to the full”

My sister Audrey Roberts passed away in Oxford in February, a little before her 84th birthday. A divorcee, bearing the name of her second husband as Audrey Maxwell, she had no issue, but can claim to have lived a full life marked by remarkable energy, wide-ranging friendships and a camaraderie that has etched her memory in many minds.

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April 1, 2018 · 11:03 am

Is there a Chinese Dragon Looming over Sri Lanka ?

 in Hambantota and in The Guardian, 26 March 2018, with this title “The biggest game changer in 100 years’: Chinese money gushes into Sri Lanka,” … with highlights being the imposition of  The  Editor, Thuppahi

Little disturbs the serenity of Guan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion, as her statue sits in contemplation at the centre of Mattala Rajapaksa international airport. The last flight from the airport departed at 7.50am. The next is scheduled for 7.50am tomorrow. In the meantime, check-in counters are empty, car rental desks deserted, and the only sign of life a handful of staff laughing around an information desk who disperse when a visitor arrives.

Mattala Rakapaksa airport, built with Chinese loans, handles 50,000 passengers a year, a fraction of its capacity of 1 million. Photograph: Michael Safi

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March 31, 2018 · 10:01 am

The Gash Files I: About Lt. Col. Anton Gash

Michael Roberts

Lt Colonel Anton Gash was the “Defence Adviser” attached to the British High Commission from February 2007 to June 2009 and therefore observed and commented on the ongoing war to the UK Foreign Office. In this capacity he was a key figure in organising the training given to the SL armed services on International Humanitarian Law etc, between the 3rd and 8tth March 2008 under the supervision of Commander Alan Cole. Both Cole and Gash were specifically thanked by the SL Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, on this occasion.

Of upper class background, Anton Gash was educated at Eton (1978-83), read Classics & Literature & Linguistics at Oxford (1984-88) and completed his Defence Studies at Cranfield University and Kings College over the years 1996-98.

  Lt. Col Gash meets the SL Navy Continue reading →

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March 31, 2018 · 2:13 am

Our Government Changes Course at Geneva: Dayan’s Incisive Summary

Dayan Jayatilleka,in Island, 30 March 2018, with title as “Geneva: A shift in the government’s discourse”


The UNHRC session this month in Geneva succeeded in punching through to the news pages, despite the overwhelming dominance of stories about the no-confidence motion. However, there was no acknowledgement of the two most important aspects.

The first was from the government delegation or more correctly the discourse of the government team. Foreign Minister Marapana whose views are known to be a huge improvement on those of Minister Mangala Samaraweera, was accompanied by two nominees of the President, namely Dr Sarah Amunugama and Faiszer Mustapha. All in all, it was a decent team, lacking only State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vasantha Senanayake.

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March 31, 2018 · 1:37 am

The Recent Sinhala-Muslim Violence in Lanka: A Plea for Tolerance

Asoka Bandarage, in Asia Times, 30 March 2018, where the title runs “Avoiding ‘religious’ violence in Sri Lanka”

On the night of February 22, four drunken Muslim youths traveling on a three-wheeler in Sri Lanka’s Kandy district beat up a Sinhala Buddhist truck driver because he had not allowed them to overtake his truck. The police arrested the assailants but released them on bail.

Although intelligence officers had warned that the incident could be used to instigate ethnic tensions in the area, the police did not take immediate action. After the truck driver died and his body was being taten from the hospital on the night of March 2, feeling betrayed by state authorities, villagers burned tires in protest.

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March 29, 2018 · 11:23 pm

Baila! Shihan’s Performative Historical Revelations

The Sooriya Village Concert and Workshop Series presents, “What Is Baila?” conducted by Dr. Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya with illustrative accompaniments on Piano & Bongo!

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March 28, 2018 · 2:45 am

Warnergate in South Africa for the Aussie Cricketers

Peter Lalor in The Australian, 28 March 2019, where the title runs “Fourth Test in doubt amid claims players want to abandon tour”

Australia’s cricket team is in upheaval and players want to quit the tour of South Africa and abandon the fourth and final Test, a former player says. Gavin Robertson told Fox Sports News on Tuesday night that morale within the dressing room is so bad that players don’t want to play in the next Test, which begins on Friday. “They are going to break apart in the next couple days,” he told Fox Sports’ Bill and Boz. “I spoke to people this morning, the players don’t want to play the test. Generally, they don’t feel like playing because they are absolutely gutted.”

The team has cancelled Wednesday night’s training session as players and officials reel from the banishment of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft over the ball tempering scandal.

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March 28, 2018 · 1:30 am

The Will to Win in Australian Cricket. Outcomes

Michael Roberts

Australian cricket mirrors Australian sporting culture in that it  is marked by a relentless will to win. At the highest level of Australian cricket in recent years it has generated several outcomes. I summarize these consequences in haphazard order.

  1. As revealed recently in South Africa, it has led to ball-tampering – probably acts that have been quite systematic in the recent past.
  2. This has been accompanied by pugnacious mourning – exemplified over recent years by the on-field face and verbals of Stephen Smith.
  3. It has heightened the age-old Australian cricketing philosophy of verbal intimidation within the cricket field directed towards unsettling the opposing batsmen and securing wickets …. and a WIN.
  4. Verbal assaults have on occasions been supported by intimidating bouncer-barrages that exceed the limits set bythe  ICC … a practice that led to the unintentional killing of Phil Hughes in a Sheffield Shield match (see Roberts 2016)

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March 25, 2018 · 8:09 pm

Marasinghe’s Book on the Constitutional History of Sri Lanka

Leelananda De Silva, courtesy of Sunday Island, 24 March 2018, where the title runs “Are We Heading Towards Constitutional Anarchy? The Evolution of Constitutional Governance in Sri Lanka (Revised Second Edition)”

n the 1950s in Ceylon, there was the university entrance examination, conducted by the University of Ceylon annually, to select students for entry to that university. There were no G.C.E. A-Levels then. One of the subjects for this examination was called Government. Those who sat for this subject read the Constitution of Ceylon by Ivor Jennings. Jennings was the author of the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1948, and it was first hand analysis of the constitutional provisions of 1948. Jennings was one of the foremost constitutional lawyers in England and he had published the authoritative “Cabinet Government” some years before and also a more popular book called the British Constitution and another called The Law and the Constitution. Undergraduates of that time were fortunate in reading these authoritative tomes by a leading constitutional scholar. Since 1948, there has been little scholarly writings on constitutional developments in Ceylon, especially on the politics behind constitutional changes.

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