Recalling Professor Hasbullah’s Educational Work

MA Nuhman, in Colombo Telegraph, 11 September 2019, where the title is “Remembering Professor S H Hasbullah”

Remembering my dear friend Hasbullah (11.09.1950–25.08.2018) is personally a very emotional, difficult and painful task for me. We were very close and intimate friends for nearly three decades.   Hasbullah’s untimely sudden death was a great loss to me. Even after one year of his demise my memories of him are fresh and heavy in my mind. It may take a long time for me to recover, for he made an impact on my life.  He was such a dynamic personality.

Brits who bat for Sri Lanka on the Political Front: FOSLA

Rajeewa Jayaweera, in Sunday Island, 14 September 2019, where the title is “FOSLA batting for Sri Lanka”

Friends of Sri Lanka Association (FOSLA) is a non-political association comprising of a diverse group of British nationals. They all are drawn together by a shared common interest in Sri Lanka. In 1987, several leading Englishmen including Sir John Nicholas, a former British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka (1979-1984) and a Sri Lanka-born lawyer had been invited to the High Commission by the then High Commissioner Chandra Monerawela. Former Foreign Minister ACS Hameed had met them and urged this group of Sri Lanka enthusiasts to form an association. FOSLA was the outcome of this meeting (http:/HYPERLINK “https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fosla.org.uk%2F&data=02%7C01%7 %7Cbe1c60dbcb2e4ec2a3e008d730ce3620%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637031534534473663&sdata=RK%2BwgG%2BswgbtzHwoZn0JowKSMsy6L1FQSDsriV%2FwFjA%3D&reserved=0″/www.fosla.org.uk/).

L to R: John Field (BHC 1991-6), HE Manisha Gunasekera (Sri Lankan HC to the UK), Sir Peter Heap (FOSLA Chairman), Linda Duffield (BHC 1999-2002) and Jame Dauris (BHC 2015-19) at the recent luncheon.

The Loch Ness Monster Emerges Again … To be Undermined

Matthew Weaver, in The Guardian, 6 & 9 September 2019 with this title “Loch Ness monster could be a giant eel, say scientists”

The Loch Ness monster could be a giant eel, according to a fishy new theory that will keep Highland tourists guessing. In one of the biggest DNA studies of its kind, a team of scientists from New Zealand’s Otago University found the presence of about 3,000 species in the deep murky waters of the Scottish loch. Most of the creatures were very small, and while they did detect DNA from pigs, deer, sticklebacks and humans, there were no monsters. But Prof Neil Gemmell, who led the study, said he couldn’t rule out a theory that eels in the loch have grown to an extreme size.

Namel Weeramuni: Life and Theatre, Theatre as Life

Nandasiri Jasentuliyana aka “Nandi,” in Sunday Times, 1 September 2019, where the title is “A Legendary Author’s Autobiography”

Namel Weeramuini’s compelling autobiography was launched on his 85th birthday, before a large audience at the Namel Malini Punchi Theatre yesterday.We live in a global village where the main road has many forks and takes us on many incredible journeys. It is increasingly difficult to know the final destination of these journeys. It means we choose the life we want for ourselves often amid uncertainty.

 Namel Weeramuni Attorney at Law

 

Ceylon University College Dons in 1933: A Photo that is A Treasure Trove

We are indebted to Thiru Arumugam and the latest issue of THE CEYLANKAN produced by the Ceylon Society of Australia for the two photographs reproduced here. I invite readers and old University personnel to provide pertinent bio-data on any of the individuals here who served the University and society over the next few decades.  I will be initiating this task below as time goes by.

A Sob Story? Hodge in Batticaloa batting for the Nadeshalingam Family

Amanda Hodge in The Weekend Australian, 7/8th September 2019, where the title is “Mum’s fears for asylum son tainted by time with Tamil Tigers”

On the scuffed green walls of Nadeshalingam Murugappan’s family home in eastern Sri Lanka, a maxim written in English — a language none of the occupants can read — hangs above the television in a room full of anxious ­relatives. It says: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Whether “Nades” and his wife Kokilapathmapriya “Priya” Nadarasa end up back in the rural Sri Lankan district of Batticaloa they fled separately years ago — this time with two Australian-born daughters in tow — could be decided before the end of the month.

Nadeshalingam ‘Nades’ Murugappan’s mother Alakamma in the family’s village home in Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka. Picture: Benislos Thushan

Sri Lanka’s President-to-be: Evaluating the Evaluations

Rajeewa Jayaweera,  from Island,  9  September 2019 where the title is “Hobson’s choice with Presidential Candidates”

Two recent articles published in The Island were eye-openers. The first was titled ‘Presidential Elections and the Peoples Options’ by a group of eminent persons collectively known as ‘Friday Forum.’ The other was titled ‘Milinda reminds seven cold economic truths as politicians go into overdrive with promises’ by former politician and minister Milinda Moragoda.

Goonesekere; Jayaratne; and Moragoda