September 29, 2014 · 3:07 pm

About SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda: An Intrepid Seeker and A Man of Diverse Talents

Michael Roberts

 TAMM ITA 11 Tammita-Delgoda

In the years 2001-01 or so when I was developing the manuscript which eventually became Sinhala Consciousness in the Kandyan Period, 1590s-1815 (Yapa Publications, Colombo, 2004, ISBN 955-8095-53-2) I posed an issue within my own mind: in what ways did the intellectual currents and specifically the understandings of statehood and/or nationhood among the colonial powers impinge upon and influence the thinking of the Sinhalese peoples? This meant that I had to get to grips with European history and the growth of nationalist concepts therein. Lacking competence in Portuguese and Dutch I had necessarily to concentrate on the intellectual strands in Britain and England, a topic I already had some familiarity with because of my teaching work at Peradeniya University in the 1970s.[1]

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September 29, 2014 · 8:11 am

Islamist with Sword is greater threat than Tamil with Acid

Michael Roberts, presenting an item drafted on 22 September and circulated to Australian news agencies without receiving any takers; but drawing a pertinent response from an Aussie cricket buff with political interests — one which indicated that my NOTE was shallow and inadequate because it did not recognise the degree of hostility to the secular state and its institutions that resided within the thinking of the Islamic jihadist extremists, something that was not integral to either Serbian, Croatian, Sinhalese or Tamil extremists who got at each other’s throats. This note is presented below under the pseudonym Ibn Wirriq.

When some Australian Islamic extremists developed intentions of beheading a random Australian victim in the heart of an Australian city, they were not only affirming their faith in a symbol of militant Islam on the march, viz., the scimitar, but also pursuing a blitzkrieg upon the ‘Western mind’. The thought of beheading by sword arouses primeval fears in the West. Most people residing in the West today have moved beyond the era not so long ago in the 19th century-and-before when the guillotine, beheading by axe and hanging were standard forms of state punishment in their own heartlands. Today, moral revulsion is expressed at such a form of execution. Continue reading →

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September 29, 2014 · 3:43 am

ISIS as Fascist and Totalitarian

ALAN DUPONTAlan Dupont, courtesy of The Weekend Australian, 27-28 September 2009, where the title is “The New War for Hearts and Minds”… Note that IS = ISIS = ISIL rre sused interchangeably .. Also see http://tv.unsw.edu.au/026648C0-C0EF-11E1-87A00050568336DC

Australians are understandably transfixed and repulsed by the barbaric excesses of Islamic State. But it would be a mistake to believe that the demise of IS will be rapid, easy or bring to an end the global turmoil that has accompanied its dramatic rise. This is because the caliphate jihadism of IS is not your run of the mill terrorism, but a virulent mutation of a broader revolutionary movement which has much in common with the totalitarian ideologies of the 20th century.

ISIS troops

Communism, nazism and fascism sprang from a common source – dissatisfaction with the existing international order and a rejection of the tenets of liberal democracy. All were deeply authoritarian and aggressively expansionist, ruthlessly suppressing any opposition and justifying their excesses by claiming to represent a higher moral purpose and authority. Continue reading →

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September 29, 2014 · 3:18 am

A Path to Nowhere: Jaffna to Colombo Railtrack, 1980s to 2009

 Michael Roberts

01- Jaffna Railway Station Jaffna Railway Station 2009 16-jaffna

Railway building in the British colonial period was one of imperial Britain’s great achievements (not entirely altruistic of course). From the time it was inaugurated on 1st August 1905 the railway from Jaffna to Colombo brought Jaffna Tamils to the epicentre of commercial, educational activity and penned doors to individual and familial advancement. As Wikipedia notes, the single track single line between Kankesanthurai and Vavuniya had 16 stations and 12 sub-stations .

Oral story-telling in Tamil circles among older generations must surely highlight the importance of the railway. For Sinhalese and Burghers and others of course the tales will be more wistful ones retailing their occasional sojourns among Tamil friends in the distant terrain of the Jaffna Peninsula. For the railwaymen, of course, whether Burgher, Eurasian, Tamil or Sinhala, the memories were deeper – “etched into their being” in the The Rhythm of the Wheels as Victor Melder called his cyclostyled magazine from the depths of Melbourne during the 1970s. Continue reading →

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September 28, 2014 · 3:23 pm

Ceylon Olympic Squad 1948 — A Rare Picture

With thanks to Keith Bennett and Victor Melder

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Left to right: Edward Gray, Albert Perera, Duncan White, John De Saram, Mr. Perera (Team manager), George Peiris, Leslie Handunge and Alex Obeysekere

Ceylon Olympic Team at the Olympic camp in Richmond Park, London ~ 13th June 1948

With thanks to Asoka Kuruppu = Link to a video of Duncan White of Ceylon winning Gold at the 1950 Empire Games. in Auckland, New Zealand…..   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iHJI0eoq9A

ALSO SEE Duncan White winning the 440 Hurdles at Empire Games in 1950 http://thuppahis.com/2014/10/29/duncan-white-wins-440-hurdles-in-record-time-at-empire-games-1950/

 

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September 26, 2014 · 2:35 pm

A Burkha Car and Viagra’s Hard-On HQ

Burkha car

VIAGRA GREEN… VIAGRA building in Canada

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September 26, 2014 · 2:28 pm

From the Tea Slopes to the Womb of Medicine

Kuppusamy Kanageswary and Balakrishnan Sathiyaraj talk to Kumudini Hettiarachchi of their arduous journey–as children of tea pluckers–to enter the Medical Faculty and fulfil their dreams

kanegeswary Kanegeswary   SATHIYARAJSathiyaraj

He hopes to become an Obstetrician & Gynaecologist and she a Paediatrician. Having achieved the ‘peak’ of securing the MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) against all odds, while their parents have toiled on the rough slopes, they see not a mist-shrouded journey, but a clear pathway ahead of them. Not forgetting humble beginnings: Dr. Kuppusamy Kanageswary and Dr. Balakrishnan Sathiyaraj will one day go back to their community, to serve the children and the mothers. Continue reading →

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September 26, 2014 · 9:00 am

Indian Cab Driver meets Fabulous Oz

Many of us in Aussieland have been exposed to the ubiquitous presence of Indian cab drivers in the capital cities and doubtless appreciated their contribution to the development of multi-cultural Australia. This little “EPISODE” in composition, with its Peter Sellars flavour, will certainly add to our sense of joy.

INDIAN CABBI IN OZ

* A drunken woman, stark naked, jumped into a taxi at Fortitude Valley in Brisbane.

* The Indian driver opened  his eyes wide and stared at the woman. He made  no attempt to start the Cab.

*  “What’s  wrong with you Luv, haven’t  you ever seen a naked woman  before?”

* “I’ll not be staring at you lady, I am telling you, that would not be  proper, where I am coming from…”

* “Well,  if you’re not bloody staring at me Luvie, what  are you doing then?”

* “Well, I am looking and looking, and I am thinking and thinking to  myself, where is this lady keeping the money to  be paying me?!” 

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September 26, 2014 · 5:41 am

Reading Between the Lines in April 2009: Tammita-Delgoda takes apart Marie Colvin’s jaundiced propaganda article in British newspaper

SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, repeating original publication in jang.com.pk/thenews/apr2009-weekly/nos-05-04-2009/pol1.htm — where the full title runs as “Reading between the Lines: The International Media and the Conflict in Sri Lanka. The Curious Case of the Sunday Times” …..**

On Friday afternoon, Puthukkudiyirruppu, the last town under Tiger control, was still the centre of intense fighting. The air hums with the thud of shells and the crack of gunfire. Listen long enough and you can make out the different sounds, the crackle of heavy machine guns, the thump of mortars and the sharp retort of the T-56.

The odd one is a little close and I try not to jump, conscious that at least three soldiers are looking at me with curiousity. I could not help but notice the sidelong glances they gave the louder sounds became.  I stood spellbound at the entrance to the Puthukkudiyirruppu Hospital, fascinated by the sign outside. On the right hand side of the board was a large red cross, on the left hand side was a rifle, with two red marks through it. Beneath it were the words “Entering With Weapons Prohibited.” It reminded me of some of the signs I had seen in Peshawar. Continue reading →

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September 25, 2014 · 12:48 am

TRAVEL PULSE sees good future for Tourism in Lanka

James Ruggia, in The Daily News, 24 September 2014, where the title is “What’s Next for Sri Lanka’s Growing Tourism?”

Sri Lanka finally seems to have moved the conversation away from the past to the more appealing power of its tourism attractions including tea plantations, blue whale watching, highlands, wildlife viewing, beaches, lakes, rivers and jungles. In August the country had already welcomed its millionth visitor, a development that has tourism officials optimistic that they can reach their 2014 goal of 1.5 million visitors. Last year the country attracted about 1.2 million visitors and is targeting 2.5 million in 2015.

KITULGALA WGwhite water rafting White water rafting at Kitulgala

In the immediate aftermath of the war, it was difficult to attract tourists or investment. International hotel companies were among the first tourism concerns to enter the country with Marriott, Hyatt, Mövenpick and Shangri-La leading the charge and several tour operators are now also wading in the waters. Continue reading →

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