March 19, 2015 · 1:17 pm

A Rich History! Richmond College, Galle

Forgotten History of Richmond College by Ananda Dias Jayasinha is now available ….

Richmond HISTORY COVER

I. A Review by Ananda Ariyaratne

Social enlightenment is a natural reflection of level of the intellectual capacity of any society. It in turn was always dependent on the civilizations both local as well as those interacted. Sri Lanka is a land that can boast about her own unique civilization that had evolved in an environment that was always open to outside influence while providing the opportunity to progress in a kind of isolation that affected its identity which is in several ways similar to all the island civilizations of the world. Sri Lanka is such an island civilization that clearly shows that external influence coming from another land thousands of miles away.

Although, Sri Lanka was affected by all the seafaring nations that had their people crisscrossing the vast Indian Ocean, the most outstanding and inseparable features had been left behind by the British. Two other European nations had a foothold in the coastal regions but were unable to penetrate deep into the hinterland like the British who took the complete control of this land in 1815 after controlling the coastal lands from 1796, within a very short period like nineteen years. Continue reading →

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March 19, 2015 · 12:29 am

Let us ALL hail King Sangakkara” — A British Reporter

Stephen Brenkley in The Independent 16 March 2015, with the title “Kumar Sangakkara: Why all should kneel before king Kumar…”

SANGA 1 Towards the end of his great speech at Lord’s four years ago, Kumar Sangakkara offered an inkling of what drives him. By this time the audience was already rapt to the point of eating from his hand and soon, to a man and woman, it would be on its feet cheering. “In our cricket we display a unique spirit, a spirit enriched by lessons learnt from a history spanning over two-and-a-half millennia,” Sangakkara said. “In our cricket you see the character of our people, our history, culture and tradition, our laughter, our joy, our tears and regrets. It is rich in emotion and talent. My responsibility as a Sri Lankan cricketer is to further enrich this beautiful sport, to add to it and enhance it and to leave a richer legacy for other cricketers to follow.” Continue reading →

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March 18, 2015 · 11:55 pm

Sri Lanka’s Ancient Rainforest Human Being!

The Hindu, March 2015 where the title is “Humans adapted to living in rainforests much earlier”

evolutionAn analysis of teeth dating back up to 20,000 years in Sri Lanka has suggested that humans adapted to living in rainforests much earlier than thought. The researchers from Oxford University, working with a team from Sri Lanka and the University of Bradford, analysed the carbon and oxygen isotopes in the teeth of 26 individuals, with the oldest dating back 20,000 years.

They found that nearly all the teeth analysed suggested a diet largely sourced from the rainforest. The study, published in the journal Science shows that early modern humans adapted to living in the rainforest for long periods. Previously it was thought that humans did not occupy tropical forests for any length of time until 12,000 years after that date, and that the tropical forests were largely ‘pristine’, human—free environments until the Early Holocene, 8,000 years ago. Continue reading →

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March 13, 2015 · 8:12 am

Sangakkara in Superlatives: Beyond the Boundary

Michael Roberts, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph, 13 March 2015 – where there may be blog comments eventually: see https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/superlatives-for-sangakkara/

Kumar Sangakkara has rightfully received measured accolades as well as superlative praise from many a quarter for his unprecedented batting mastery marked through four World cup centuries in a row. Perhaps the most meaningful comments came during the early part of his innings at Bellerive Oval, Hobart when Mark Nicholas and Tom Moody referred to (1) his meticulous preparation and batting practice at the nets, (2) his Colin Cowdrey lecture and (3) his library of books and (4) an abiding interest in cultural artefacts which leads him to visit antique stores and bookshops in every which place.

This breadth of vision and acumen makes his sporadic, but not infrequent errors[1] in calling for runs all the more stark and unusual: not only because these errors signal a failure in assessment , but also because each error can make a difference between victory and defeat for his side.[2] Continue reading →

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March 13, 2015 · 1:55 am

Photographs of Ceylon and the American Circus: The Oriental India Poster

Benita Stambler, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, USA, benita.stambler@ringling.org

ORIENTAL INDIAOriental India, 1896, Strobridge Lithographing Company, Barnum & Bailey Circus, The Ringling Museum, Tibbals Collection, ht2004820.

My research on the photographs of Sri Lanka has taken an interesting turn lately that has provided new information about the American circus. For the last several years I have been trying to learn about the photographic record of Ceylon in the late nineteenth century. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, where I work has, besides a growing collection of Asian art and its famous European Baroque art, a fabulous collection of posters, photographs and ephemera on the circus, important to the museum because of the Ringling family’s connection with the American circus. Continue reading →

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March 12, 2015 · 10:35 am

Channel 4 and Jonathan Miller on “This Septic Isle” as he reports Sirisena’s Meeting with Cameron

See “Sri Lanka and Sirisena: is the country really changing?” …  Channel 4 News – YouTube anchored by Jonathan Miller ….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UOczh1ZV1c&app=desktop

” A black car convoy swept into Downing Street at 3.15 sharp. On board a new face …. ”

MS and DC Pic from www.zimbio.com Continue reading →

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March 12, 2015 · 12:29 am

Sunil Santha: A Search for Sinhala Music

Tony Donaldson

From 1946 to the end of his life in 1981, the composer Sunil Santha pioneered a modern Sinhala song style and form which the film director, actor, and scriptwriter Tissa Abeysekera describes as ‘the most atavistic of all art forms’ in Sri Lanka. To commemorate the centenary of Sunil Santha’s 100th birth anniversary in April 2015, this article examines his search for a music language and defines some fundamental characteristics of his music. Readers should note that the version posted earlier on the 23rd February 2015 was an initial draft (generated by a computer quirk) which is now superseded by this version — so copies of the former should be replaced.  The initial print version can be found in The Ceylankan 2015.

In an essay published in 1906 in the Journal of the Ceylon University Association, the art historian Ananda Coomaraswamy made a plea for the teaching of Indian music in Ceylon. Along with his contemporaries, he complained that Western music was invading indigenous music and based on the assumption that Sinhala music did not exist, he attempted to segregate Western from indigenous music by arguing that the best method for reviving indigenous music was through Indian music. In his view, the notion that Sinhala music could be independent of India was unthinkable and impossible. But what was thought impossible in 1906 was made possible forty years later, when the composer and recording artist Sunil Santha began to search for a music language independent of Indian music for his songs. Continue reading →

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March 11, 2015 · 2:38 pm

Gota grounded because of Avant Garde Weaponry & Circuit of Rumours

Amanda Hodge in The Australian, 11 March 2015, where the title reads “Sri Lanka grounds ex-president’s brother over impounded arsenal”

SRI Lanka’s once-powerful defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been grounded and his passport seized while police investigate a floating armoury of 3000 weapons linked to the former president’s brother. The boatload of weapons, ­including machineguns, was registered to the Avant-Garde Security Service, a company that entered into a joint venture with the Defence Ministry in 2011 to provide private security to merchant ships. The passports of three others, including two retired high-ranking military officers, have also been seized.

AMANDA HODGE ““Sri Lankan asylum-seekers moored at Indonesia’s Merak port in October 2009 after they were stopped by local authorities on their way to Australia” — Source: News Corp Australia ++ see COMMENT BELOW

The arsenal was impounded soon after Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated in January 8 presidential polls by former health minister Maithripala Sirisena and a coalition of about 40 parties. Continue reading →

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March 8, 2015 · 12:56 pm

Reshaping Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy after Mahinda’s Fall

Rajan Philips, courtesy of The Island, 8 March 2015, where the title is “The fall of Mahinda and the remaking of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy”

The more egregious of the blunders of the Rajapaksa regime were in the area of foreign policy. Without doubt Sri Lanka’s global reputation suffered badly under the former president. It might be an exaggeration to say that Sri Lanka’s stock has started rising after the fall of Mahinda Rajapakksa, but it is fair to say that after the change in government the slide in reputation has been stemmed and the trend is being reversed. To wit, the six-month deferral of the UNHRC report that was due this month, the speeches by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State at the 28th UNHRC Sessions now underway in Geneva, and the statement in Colombo by the UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs following his recent visit to the island and the Northern Province. These developments are a sea change from the foreign policy confusions, tantrums and setbacks that Sri Lanka suffered under Mahinda Rajapaksa every year, during the UNHRC sessions in Geneva, over the last three years. It is not difficult to imagine the diplomatic meltdown Sri Lanka would be having in Geneva at this very present time, if Rajapaksa had won the January 8 election and the UNHRC report on Sri Lanka was also released in March as originally scheduled. Continue reading →

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March 8, 2015 · 1:55 am

A Patchy Tale says an Aussie Reporter reviewing the New Sri Lankan Government’s Performance

Amanda Hodge, in The Weekend Australian, 7/8 March 2015, where the title runs “Sri Lanka’s uneven road to reconciliation and harmony”

ONLY the hardiest soul could sleep through the train ride from Jaffna to Colombo — a curiously bone-jarring new track connecting the once divided north and south of Sri Lanka. Yet the Intercity Express is full of slumbering passengers, lightly snoring their way past Kilinochchi fields once littered with the bodies of warring Sri Lankans, and houses whose roofs still bear the Red Cross signs their residents hoped would protect them from shelling in the last infernal months of the civil war.

 

A3--RANIL - Graham Couch Ranil Wickramsainghe of the UNP, Prime Minister  now and one of the kingmakers, cast n this presentation in lily-white background —Pic by Graham Couch

Sri Lankans are sleeping easier than they have in years since a coalition of political parties with little in common beyond a unifying distaste for the country’s former ruling Rajapaksa family convinced the health minister to challenge for the presidency. Continue reading →

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