When the Old Royalists and Old Thomians hold their gala dances in New York, the traditional rivalry between the two Colombo high schools is cause for good-humoured banter -- and camaraderie.
Last week, the Royal College Old Boys East Coast Association (RCOBECA) held its annual ball with two prominent guests billed as a double-header: Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative Palitha Kohona (an old boy of S. Thomas Mt. Lavinia) and Deputy Permanent Representative Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva (an old boy of St. Thomas' Matale). It was a rare occurrence -- like Haley's comet.
Vajira Gunawardana, the toastmaster for the evening, took a light hearted jab at Kohona when he pointed out that the only academic shortcoming of the Sri Lankan envoy was that he went to the "wrong school"' -- but still redeemed himself by going to Cambridge University for his doctorate.
But the Royalists, Kohona punched back, have always been forgiven for their shortcomings -- and duly welcomed at all their dances as "honorary Thomians."
JVP shoulder for UNP dissidents
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna's (JVP) newspaper ‘Lanka’ seems to be a shoulder for UNPers to cry on when they have problems.
The latest is UNP's Kurunegala District Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera. He told ‘Lanka’ that he was in the Sajith faction. However, he would not be in any faction hereafter.
There were also others expressing dissent with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. One was over the appointment of a National Organiser.
In a letter to him, UNP Southern Provincial Councillor Maithri Gunaratne has said in terms of the "Rules of the conduct of the election for office bearers" if there is a contest, the General Secretary of the party will have to conduct elections and notify the final result to the electoral body. It is extremely clear that for the post of National Organizer there was only one nomination.
"Therefore, according to the rules Hon. Ranjith Madumabandara should have been pronounced National Organizer uncontested. For some reason best known to you, you have chosen not to do so. Furthermore the hurry you had to get the Leader appointed seems to have vanished when it comes to the appointment of National Organizer," he said.
Wickremesinghe loyalists, however, contested Mr. Gunaratne's claims. They said that the Leader has chosen to ensure "party unity" by choosing persons for top posts through consensus. This is what happened when it came to the election of the leader as well, they say.
Rajapaksa pooja before cup final
Thirty two Ministers are among cricket enthusiasts who are on a concessionary fare of Rs 95,000 for a special SriLankan Airlines flight to see the Cricket World Cup finals at the Wankahede Stadium. This covered the ticket fares for the match too, which are going at 'black-market' rates.
President Mahinda Rajapakasa, however, flew in a Mihinair aircraft to Tiruppathi before flying to Mumbai. He took part in religious ceremonies, including a Suprapadam pooja. This is where worshippers flock to pay homage to the bed in which the God sleeps at night, and is taken out in the morning. The Saturday morning pooja which the President attended is considered an auspicious day as well.
Holiday for all
When Sri Lanka beat India for the first time in Test cricket back in the 1980s, President J.R. Jayewardene declared a national holiday. The declaration was immediately followed by a telex from the Foreign Ministry which ruled that the national holiday would not apply to Sri Lanka's overseas missions.
But Ernest Corea, Sri Lanka's then Ambassador to the United States, who had a direct pipeline to the Presidential Secretariat, fired off a telex protesting that it was unfair to prevent government servants in overseas missions from celebrating the victory. Within hours, the late Jayewardene overruled the Foreign Ministry. The next cable from the ministry to all overseas missions said the holiday applies to all Sri Lankans -- both at home and abroad with no exceptions.
Who drove this vehicle?
A recent accident involving a politico has caused some concerns after his bodyguard died.
Who drove the vehicle that was involved in the crash has become the question for the investigators. Was it the politico or the bodyguard who died?
The former position may cause him trouble but the latter would help, say the investigators.
World Cup: Diplomatic doosras in US, political powerplay in Colombo
In a country where most Americans think of "cricket" only as an insect chirping in the grassy backyard of one's home, there is still room to rejoice that the sport is the ultimate gentleman's game. In cosmopolitan New York, the entire World Cup cricket tournament turned out to be a spectacular sports event -- particularly among the South Asian and Caribbean communities.
However, where better could you hold a virtual cricketing event except in the shadow of the United Nations, an institution which is home to all of the cricket-playing countries of the world? So, the Indian Mission to the United Nations took the initiative last week to host not one, but two live cricket matches streamed into its flat screen TV: the India vs Pakistan semi final and the Sri Lanka vs India final.
The invitations, from Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, went out to envoys from all the cricketing nations in the tournament, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, England, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The timing of the matches, beginning at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. at the crack of dawn, did not deter the die-hard cricketing diplomats and journalists from turning up at the Indian Mission. The invitees were also privy to a sumptuous breakfast -South Indian style.
Not to be outdone, Jaliya Wickremasooriya, our own ambassador to the US, hosted an event at his residence in Washington DC in the wee hours of Saturday morning. But this 'open invitation' to watch the finals was e-mailed to all cricket-loving Sri Lankan expats throughout the United States. There was, however, one hitch: since space was limited, the invitations carried a cautionary note: first-come, first-served. And that serving probably included kiri buth and katta sambol.
In Colombo, unfortunately, dissent is not being tolerated even if one talks on issues relating to cricket.
Arjuna Ranatunga, who captained the Sri Lanka team that won the Cricket World Cup played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in 1996 has found himself in trouble. All because he remarked that yesterday's World Cup final was weighted fifty-fifty for India and Sri Lanka and that who was he to give any advice to the Sri Lankan team when President Mahinda Rajapaksa was giving all the advice.
He was castigated by State-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe on his daily programme. A State-run Tv station showed highlights of Sri Lanka's victory in the 1996 World Cup without even a hint that Ranatunga was the team's captain. They were in the dangerous job of trying to re-write history. A vernacular newspaper also ran a hard-hitting editorial against him. For them, it seemed that making a judicial judgement is unpatriotic!!
On the other hand, most Government leaders were also cricket conscious. Last Tuesday, President Rajapaksa flew in a VIP helicopter of the Sri Lanka Air Force to Galle. He attended the 139th anniversary of Richmond College as Chief Guest.
When it came to his speech, he said he was cutting it short. "I know that most of you want to go before your television sets to watch the World Cup semi-finals between Sri Lanka and New Zealand."
Then Rajapaksa flew to Colombo and went straight to the Premadasa Stadium to watch the match. Before it ended, he returned to 'Temple Trees'. There he watched the last stages on TV.
Getting the priests on boat
The Food Security Committee meets this week under the chairmanship of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne complained that fishermen were not selling their catch to the Fisheries Corporation. Instead, they had other vendors who were their favourites.
President Rajapaksa, who was a one time Minister of Fisheries, said that they should resort to the "Fernandopulle doctrine". The late Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, who was in the Rajapaksa Cabinet, met the Catholic priests in Negombo and made a plea. They should ask the fishermen to sell their produce to the Corporation. It worked, President Rajapaksa said.
UN report may be made public
There was an unusual training programme in the Colombo offices of the United Nations this week.
It was focused on how to cope with situations that would arise when the report of the three-member UN panel on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka is handed over to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It is expected to be given to him anytime between April 13 and 15.
Does this mean there are plans to go public with the report?
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