Remembering Chrisantha Cooray on his 70th Birth Anniversary
September 4, 2013 was the 70th birth anniversary of the late Chrisantha Cooray, who was the Chairman of Hatton National Bank and the Browns group of companies, when on March 11, 2004, he quite unexpectedly passed away, on the eve of the General Elections in April 2004, which he was looking forward to.
I associated very closely with Chrisantha from the mid-1980s, initially as a client, and later as a close friend. By nature he was genial and charismatic, and an unassuming simple person, with great humility. He very easily moved with the highest in the land, whilst at the very same time warmly welcomed, one and all, whether at office or at home.
Chrisantha Cooray
As with many of the clients, in view of the nature and confidentiality of the problems handled, I developed a close association over the years with Chrisantha. The Browns group of companies had been acquired by his late father Edmund Cooray, a Senator and Minister of Justice in the Cabinet of late Prime Minister, Dudley Senanayake. When I became associated in the mid-1980s, the group was under the Chairmanship of Chrisantha’s elder brother, Lester, who too I came to associate with quite closely, and he also suddenly passed away in 1989.
The Browns group, due to various circumstances and factors, had to undergo surgical financial and organizational re–structuring. Chrisantha had the patience and resilience to go through the turmoil and absorb the stress, and always had a demeanor of being cheerful, suppressing the problems and anguish he went through, with pressures brought to bear from least expected quarters.
Right throughout my association with Chrisantha, never had I witnessed an occasion, when he reprimanded harshly any of his many employees, who all endeared him. He was always calm and collected. Even those employees he had been compelled to discontinue, in the discharge of his executive duties, would still continue to be in contact with him, extending their good wishes and good-will.
Chrisantha was very happily married to Pam, daughter of the illustrious and respected Supreme Court Judge, A.C. Alles. Pam wished to give a surprise B’day party for Chrisantha’s 60th B’day on September 4, 2003, but decided against it, knowing Chrisantha all too well, that he could spring a surprise, by himself suddenly going missing.
Though not involved in politics, he moved about very closely with politicians of all hues and levels, but his heart and passion was always with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, fuelled by his very close friendship with the late Anura Bandaranaike.
Every Christmas, Chrisantha and Pam hosted a traditional Christmas Dinner, inviting a close circle of friends, which was regularly graced by the late Prime Minister, Sirima Dias Bandaranaike and her children. On these occasions, Chrisantha enjoyed reminiscing and recounting on many mischievous and humorous encounters and experiences he had had in life.
On several occasions, Chrisantha was invited to be on the National List of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. On one occasion, he was about to take the plunge, when his brother Lester and I were to advise him otherwise, and his fate was sealed that evening by his family, urging that his business was then the priority.
Shortly before his demise on March 11, 2004, he was persuaded to be on the National List of the People’s Alliance, with the prospect of being given the portfolio of Minister of Finance. Though he appeared to be in the best of health, he knew himself better. In view of his health condition, where he anticipated undergoing cardiac surgery, he honourably and graciously declined, stating that his condition after such surgery would not permit him to discharge such onerous public duties.
Chrisantha had gone to Singapore in February 2004 for a medical check-up. He telephoned me and intimated that the cardiac physician had advised, that he could go back home, and come back to Singapore for the operation in April. However, upon coming back, having sent his medical reports to his cardiac surgeon in Singapore, he had been advised that he should have undergone cardiac surgery in Singapore, before coming back to Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, Chrisantha was to go back to Singapore for heart surgery, after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April. This was never to be. Back in Sri Lanka, he suddenly took ill in March, and underwent urgent cardiac surgery in Colombo. He did not survive the triple bypass he underwent. It was so sudden and shocking, but that was his fate and destiny.
It still lingers in my mind, as to what his fate and destiny would have been, had he consulted the cardiac surgeon, whilst in Singapore, and had undergone cardiac surgery in Singapore, before returning to Sri Lanka.
Even in death, he looked the same, as though he was alive. He had planned strategically to re-develop the group of businesses he headed, but was not there to have proceeded therewith. The Hatton National Bank’s monumental headquarters opened in 2003, accomplished amidst many challenges, stands as a tribute to Chrisantha’s vision.
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