February 5, 2013 · 11:43 pm

Focus on Sri Lanka and its Boat People in Australia

I> Aussie Press conference on Sri Lanka … SEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_us_2XXRKmc

II> Coalition to disclose details to Sri Lanka  by Paul Maley and Lauren Wilson in The Australian, February 06, 2013 12:00AM

A COALITION government would greatly enhance the intelligence-sharing arrangements with Sri Lanka, providing Colombo with more information on the backgrounds of arriving asylum-seekers. The Coalition promise came as veteran nurse Marianne Evers — who worked in the Nauru regional processing centre for three weeks last year — likened the site to a concentration camp and claimed gang rapes had occurred in the island facility. “I actually liken it to a concentration camp — but the Australians don’t have the guts to kill these people and put them out of their misery, because miserable it is,” she told ABC TV’s Lateline. Ms Evers said she witnessed three or four hangings and had been informed by other staff on the island there had been rapes. Continue reading →

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February 5, 2013 · 10:31 am

A Koala at a Waterhole

Michael Roberts

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  There is a saying that “one can take a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink” — applied soemtimes to dogmatic or stubborn people… and also in other ways. But I believe it is unusual to see a koala in daytime drinking water and doing so over a long period of time. As for the reasons, who knows? may be some wild life expert or lcoal know-all can tell us. Continue reading →

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February 5, 2013 · 1:04 am

Nimal Sanderatne’s Life and Times

Ishara Jayawardane, in The Daily News, 5 February 2013

Dr. SanderatneAs I approached his apartment I saw Dr. Nimal Sanderatne standing outside beaming at me. The Sri Lanka-Australia cricket match was on and we chatted a little bit about cricket. I soon discovered that I was dealing with a dynamic personality – a man who is many a man rolled into one. He has compressed the lifetimes and careers of many men into his life. A journalist, a scholar, a university don, an economist, a banker, an international consultant, and the Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon and NDB I met with an engaging personality and an effervescent man.

 “I was born and bred in Dehiwela. I first attended a small school in Dehiwela where the children were mostly of fishermen in the area. This was because my father was keen that I mix with poor children. This was in 1943 during the war. I recall two things from those days. When the sirens sounded we had to put a pencil in our mouths and hide under the desks. The other was the mid day meal of warm bread, dhal and pol sambol. To this day this is my favourite meal.” Continue reading →

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February 4, 2013 · 12:39 pm

Two CANDLEAID Projects in Lanka

I. LIBRARY PROJECT: Pethalai Vipulanandam Maha Vidyalayam is situated in Kalkudah in the district of Batticaloa in the eastern province of Sri Lanka. This school has been in existence since 1945. During the years of the ethnic war, the school suffered a fair amount of damage as it is situated in the conflict zone. Though some repairs have already been carried out, there is still work to be done to restore the school to its original status. Currently there are 837 students and 36 teachers. The school caters to students from Grades 4 to 13. In response to a request made by the School, CandleAid donated books to open a library facility for the students. The books were selected in consultation with the school authorities. The name board (please see below) for the library and stickers for the books amounted to Rs. 3,005. The total cost of the library amounted to Rs. 72,008. Continue reading →

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February 3, 2013 · 2:06 pm

A Foreign Tour Agent’s Balmy View of Sri Lanka

Keith Austin **

A little more than three years ago, Sri Lanka was a basket case, and had been for more than a quarter of a century, as civil war ravaged the country. Sri Lankan-born novelist Michael Ondaatje, in his book Anil’s Ghost, put it succinctly when he wrote: “There had been continual emergency from 1983 onwards, racial attacks and political killings. The terrorism of the separatist guerrilla groups, who were fighting for a homeland in the north. The insurrection of the insurgents in the south, against the government. The counterterrorism of the special forces against both of them … the reason for war was war.” Continue reading →

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February 3, 2013 · 1:57 pm

You are on the Path towards institutionalizing Lanka as a “failed state,” Sumanthiran tells Parliament

M.A. Sumanthiran M.P.

sumanthiran -JeyarajFull text of Speech made in Parliament on 10th January 2013 by MA SUMANTHIRAN M.P. during the debate on Impeachment of the Chief Justice

Thank you sir. Before I commence my speech I need to deal with two preliminaries, both relating to certain customs. The first one is that I must make a disclosure to this House of my involvement in my professional capacity in many matters relating to the matter under discussion and that is the proper thing to do. Even in this purported Report the first witness has referred to my name as seen in the proceedings of myself having appeared in the Ceylinco Shriram case. Continue reading →

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February 3, 2013 · 1:49 am

Saving Murali: Shehan Karunatilaka’s Retrospective Reflections

Michael Roberts

ASIMurali bowling 005 Pic 11 -bowling brace being fitted by Dr. Mandheep Dillon

28c-Murali prepares for brace test Pic 22- Murali ready to bowl with brace

Not all Sri Lankans disagreed with Darrell Hair. Initially the cricket buff Shehan Karunatilaka, now a famous author, also thought Murali was a chucker.. His reflections on this issue are now available courtesy of ESPNcricnfo. This is a beautifully crafted essay. I note some excerpts below but also add some published references noted in the ESPN site. Plus more after the extracts …. all of which will indicate why this theme is included here in THUPPAHI and not in CRICKETIQUE.

* “I was delighted to see science and rationalism – western imperialism’s hammer and sickle – being used by the East to clear a bowler’s name; tickled to see those who live by the sword being put to it.” Continue reading →

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February 2, 2013 · 1:27 pm

Random Reflections on the Public Service

Leelananda de Silva, from the Sunday Island,

Introduction: It is called the Public Service as its members are paid from the public purse. The term has nothing to do with the larger and more noble concept of performing a public service, which can be done by anyone from the larger society. A public service employee is a government and state employee, and whether the tasks they perform contribute to the welfare of the public depends on the nature of the government and the state that they serve. In ancient times, those paid by the state served the monarch. Under the British, public service employees served his or her majesty’s government, and whether they served the public was a subsidiary issue. Some did, more than others. The golden era of the public service in the country was arguably the period from 1948 – 1977, when there was parliamentary government. During this period, there was a democratic polity, elected by the people, and where the government and the state, and their employees served the public in a relatively transparent manner, and accountable to the public and parliament. Under the presidential system, public employees are serving the government more and the public less. Continue reading →

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February 2, 2013 · 2:12 am

Stirring the Pot about Sri Lankan Asylum-Seekers

TRAWLER--NATION JAN 2013

SEE a range of articles plus Emily Howie’s summary of previous news items

I: Surge Sri Lanka ‘payback’ … by Cameron Stewart & Paul Maley in The Australian, 2 February 2013

THE surge in asylum-seeker boats to Australia may have been quietly sanctioned at senior levels of the Sri Lankan government as a political payback for Australia’s attempts to make Colombo answer for alleged atrocities committed during its civil war. The theory has been discussed by Gillard government officials. It follows a widely asserted belief within the Australian government that a powerful Sri Lankan government official may be “complicit” in the people-smuggling trade and has facilitated the passage of dozens of boats to Australia during the past 10 months. The Australian yesterday revealed that the official is close to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Gillard government has chosen not to confront the official, fearing that a confrontation could cause the official to step up his alleged people-smuggling activities and further undermine what has otherwise been good co-operation with members of the Sri Lankan government on people-smuggling. Continue reading →

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February 2, 2013 · 12:22 am

An evening with Leonard Woolf in Ceylon in 1960

Neville Jayaweera, reprint from the Sunday Island, 7 August 2005

Obsequious ceremonial: Upon Woolf’s arrival in Ceylon in early 1960 (he was 80 years old then) the Home Ministry arranged for him to tour the districts in which he had served as a Civil Servant. One leg of the tour took him through Hambantota, Tanamalwila, Wellawaya, Bandarawela, Welimada and Nuwara Eliya. At that time I was the AGA of the Badulla District which covered the entire route, and my GA was V. A. J. Senaratne  (Vicky) one of the most brilliant minds of the Civil Service — Physics First Class, and first in the CCS exam in his year, but for all that, utterly self effacing and therefore little known to the public. Continue reading →

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