“You’ve no idea what it means to me to have received the support that I have from so many Sri Lankans in so many different ways. It’s a very special feeling in the heart of someone that there is a nation of cricket-lovers like the Sri Lankans, who care about an individual like myself.” ….
courtesy of mcsdl in ESPNcricinfo at
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/599038.html
ALSO SEE http://cricketique.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/tony-greigs-cowdrey-lecture/
I: from Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thera*
Christmas Day is the holiest day for all Christians, and Christians all over the world celebrate this Holy Day in pious solemnity and religious grandeur. The significance of Christmas is such that it is now generally considered a time that induces and encourages all to rise above petty divisions and bonds, for people to live in harmony and peace. But none of these features really highlights the true significance of Christmas. We have to give thought to find out what really is the true significance of Christmas. As a Buddhist I see Christmas Day as the day on which we have to ponder what exactly is humaneness. Continue reading
Michael Roberts
Cricket is many things. Above all, it is a great teacher. It replicates the experiences of life, with joy and suffering in good mix though not always in equal mix. In this teaching school the most profound experiences arise in moments of ignominious defeat. One such moment eventuated over three days at the famous MCG during the equally renowned Boxing Day Test Match when Australia rolled over the Sri Lankan XI by an innings and 201 runs. Mustering only 156 and 102 runs in each innings Sri Lanka was simply crushed.
The toll of injuries which reduced the Sri Lankan XI to eight batsmen in the second innings was only one factor in the eventual outcome. The process began when the leading batsmen batted in needless and careless fashion in the first innings after winning the toss. It was compounded by a series of missed catches – mostly difficult ones to be sure, but nevertheless adding up to sway the outcome decisively in Australia’s favour despite some sharp catches by Mahela and Rangana during the Aussie innings. Continue reading
Sri Lanka’s southern port of Galle has become a hub in the fight against Somali pirates who threaten international merchant shipping, a report in a new magazine said. An increasing number of vessels are embarking and disembarking armed guards used for on board protection as they sail past Galle, located close to the main East-West shipping route 
across the Indian Ocean, Samuditha, a new magazine for entrepreneurs, reported. This opened up opportunities for companies providing supplies and services to shipping as well as ex-servicemen who make use of their combat experience to work as private security guards on merchant ships, it said. Continue reading
Phangsio and Du Plessis celebrate the fall of a Kiwi wicket for South Africa —Pic courtesy of ESPNcricinfo
Leelananda de Silva, reviewing Kumari Jayawardena’s biography of her father
For the common man, politics began only in 1931. In 1931, men and women over the age of 21 were given the right to vote for electing members to the new legislature – the State Council. 1931 should be seen as the year that liberated the common man from the oppression of centuries, whether it be under local authoritarian monarchies, Portuguese, Dutch or British rule. About this time, two new and distinct strands in politics and in intellectual life could also be discerned. A new class of English educated men was emerging, drawn from village backgrounds, of moderate affluence, Buddhist in religion, and imbued with Eastern and Western values. They were people like G.P. Malalasekara, Senerath Paranavithana, P. de S. Kularatne, Martin Wickramasinghe and many others of that ilk. Many of them came from the Southern seaboard. A.P. de Zoysa belonged to this category of intellectuals. Continue reading
Lilani Jayatilaka, in the Island 26 December 2012, where the title reads “The almost forgotten LLRC report and Sri Lankan psyche”
Some years ago while on a visit from abroad, my niece was entertained and perhaps a little shocked when she overheard comments broadcast over the loudspeaker from a nearby school. It was the day of their annual sports meet and a teacher, obviously short-tempered, screamed into the microphone at some hapless students, “Magay yakaawe aussande epaa”. When translated into English, “Don’t rouse the devil in me” it loses colour and pith but in its original Sinhala form, her words and tone of voice, packed quite a punch. Reading the newspapers today, I am reminded of the words of that teacher. It seems that it takes very little to raise the sleeping devil in the Sri Lankan psyche. Any hint of criticism directed at our fragile egos and we are ready and willing to take umbrage. Is this part of our Sri Lankan psyche? If so, it does us a disservice. Continue reading
I: “Visible links to terrorism by human smugglers” – Australian FM Sen. Bob Carr by Ranil Wijayapala
The visit of the Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Bob Carr, at a time Sri Lanka and Australia engaged in the massive task of controlling hundreds of boat people reaching Australia as illegal immigrants, provided a good forum for the two stakeholders to sit and discuss the matter at length, while laying a strong foundation to continue the relationship between the two countries as friendly nations in the future, Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Australia, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe said. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, Australian culture, australian media, authoritarian regimes, economic processes, immigration, legal issues, life stories, people smugglers, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, Tamil migration, terrorism, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
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