This PET is a grave need
A mother and her little son are gently moving back and forth on a brightly-coloured outdoor-swing. They are not in a playground for the afternoon, when we meet them on Monday, but just outside Ward 16, the Paediatric Ward of the National Cancer Institute at Maharagama. Heart-rending are the scenes that pass before our eyes, [...]
Historic and scenic
It’s a bright Wednesday morning and we are in the middle of an ancient monastic cave complex spread approximately across 200 acres, admiring the flora and fauna around it. The famous Pilikuththuwa cave temple was the starting point of our ‘All In a Day’ travel series that took us exploring some of the key attractions [...]
Strangers in Shikoku – Japan’s 88 temple pilgrim trail
Most Sri Lankan visitors to Japan visit major cities like Tokyo and Osaka, and the “must see” tourist sights like Kyoto, Nara and Hiroshima. These are places that are well known – and well worth seeing. But I would suggest if you go to Japan that you venture off the tourist track and go to [...]
Organising the organic
The need for “vasa visa nethiahara” is there in every household and the President is leading the national endeavour to make Sri Lanka organic in its food production drive. Reminds me of “Green Bhutan” – another massive national endeavour. Are we ready? Are the plans in place? To make Sri Lanka organic a massive plan [...]
May Day: Creating a new social force
May 1 is celebrated as International Labour Day in most countries except those under military dictatorship or authoritarian rule. In the United States of America and Canada, the first Monday in September is observed as Labour Day whilst the first Sunday in May is celebrated as Labour Day in Great Britain, which can be considered [...]
Speak now or forever hold your peace
New Year’s resolutions – an interesting concept. It gives us the opportunity to start anew…clean slate/new beginning/starting over…there are many ways of elaborating on what it means to each person individually. For me personally, it has meant all of the above. Over the years, it has mentally given me the impetus and inspiration to put [...]
Give water
The Buddhist virtue of generosity (dana) or sharing (caga) is well known. That food is the main thing given is also well-known and a well-established custom. However, the Buddha often spoke of giving things other than food and giving to recipients other than the Sangha. One of these that receives little attention and which could [...]
Iromie at World Art Dubai
A painting by Sri Lankan artist, Iromie Wijewardena of a group of Lankan fusion dancers was shown in Dubai in April when Dubai hosted its premier art fiesta – World Art Dubai 2016, bringing together renowned and emerging artists and art galleries the world over under one roof. Iromie was the only Sri Lankan invited [...]
Why are we parting with our elephants?
Nandi,a second baby elephant, eight years old, will soon take a flight to New Zealand, where her new home will be the Auckland zoo. The first was five-year-old Anjalee, who left our shores on March 13 last year, amidst appeals to the authorities by conservationists and animal welfare advocates to halt her relocation. The conservationists [...]
Looking at a lizard through literature
My work as the Sri Lanka English consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) involves collecting as many published references as possible to the 200 and more words of Sri Lankan origin contained in the dictionary. The start date for these references is 1681, the year the first book on Ceylon in English appeared in [...]
Hospital with a heart- LRH
The first thing most parents of middle income families want to do when a child falls sick is to ensure that their child has the best of care, and with this noble intention will not think twice before scraping up their meagre savings to have their child admitted to a recognised private hospital than consider [...]
Suspense, laughter and dose of social satire
It’s time for some laughs. Popular playwright Indu Dharmasena has an explosively funny mix to give his audience a bit of suspense, lots of laughter and a good dose of social satire in his new play ‘Keeping up with the Pereras’ which will be on at the Lionel Wendt theatre on May 6, 7 and [...]
A passion for portraits
A painting of a traditional Sri Lankan dumbara mat weaver working on her creation, a portrait of a member of the Veddha community and a colourful drawing of a rural housewife are amongst a collection of paintings put together by the veteran artist, Jayantha Silva for his forthcoming exhibition – Expressions 13 to be held [...]
3D printed wedding dress
Fashion designer Charlene Thuring, founder of c.h.a.r.l.e.n.e, a brand that encapsulates the fashion forward girl, recently made a bride’s wildest dreams come true with a unique concept for her wedding day. The young designer, who has showcased her collections at Colombo Fashion Week, conceived Sri Lanka’s first 3D printed wedding dress and made it a [...]
Music and thanksgiving on Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is a celebration honouring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society. In Sri Lanka, Mother’s Day is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May. Although relatively new to Sri Lanka, this occasion is now becoming more popular and more people [...]
The art of baking bread
If you were to dissect bread to its barest form it boils down to an alchemy of just three ingredients – flour, liquid and yeast. The team at Paan Paan have taken the science of baking bread and made it an art. When the Sunday Times visits the Paan Paan outlet on Lorenz Road, Colombo [...]
A fascinating journey
Before reviewing this beautifully produced book about the Uva Railway by Hemasiri Fernando, I must declare an interest. It contains a few quotations from my own work “Sri Lanka By Rail” published in the UK in 1994, which was based on articles I wrote about “great little trips by train” in this newspaper 25 years [...]
That’s poetry to me
‘Talking within myself to myself and other Selves I encounter along the way, That’s poetry to me’ The Almsgiving by Jean Arasanayagam (2014) is a contemporary collection of poetry with great relevance to the post conflict but still harsh era in which we live.There are poignant cameos of real events and people and it is [...]
Project BEAP building new partnerships
In November last year, the Sunday Times covered a public-private sector partnership to build a new Emergency and Accident Unit at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. The project is now beginning to get off the ground. Speaking to the Sunday Times, CEO of Project BEAP – Nihal de Run, noted that with the breaking of ground [...]
Sri Lanka German Friendship Society Office Bearers
The following Office Bearers of the Sri Lanka German Friendship Society were elected for 2016/2017, at the Annual General Meeting held recently. Patron: Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Dr.Jurgen Morhard Vice Patrons: Dianne Wijewardene, Raja Sinnathuray, Ursula Dimont, Nihal Abeygunawardane, Helmut Hendricks, Sumana Liyanage President: Dudley Thambinayagam Vice Presidents: K.V.D.W. Wijegunaratne, Heinz [...]
Sri Lankan completes London Marathon
April 24 was a special day for Dr. Theshanka Amarasinghe, 30, a General Practitioner in the UK, as she completed the London Marathon in support of the Parkinson’s Disease charity Runners taking part in this iconic marathon which starts from Greenwich Park, go past all of London’s greatest landmarks such as Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge, [...]
Young cleric takes over as head of Catholic Social Communications
Rev. Fr. W. N. Lal Pushpadewa Fernando, OMI has been appointed Director of the Catholic National Commission for Social Communications. Fr. Pushpadeva succeeds Fr. Cyril Gamini Perera who held the post for several years. Fr. Pushpadeva will also function as President of SIGNIS, Sri Lanka. He is the youngest and first cleric to be appointed [...]
Positive Living with PD
‘Positive Living with PD’ is a secular, non-profit support group, that hopes to break through the stigma that surrounds Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and uplift the quality of life for all people living with PD, their care-givers and their families. Seeing that there was no avenue for people living with PD and their families to share [...]
Keeping in touch with the Dutch
April 30 was the National Day of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and also the official Birthday of King Willem-Alexander. Over the past 414 years bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands have been maintained in an atmosphere of mutual understanding. The first recorded contacts between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands was on August [...]
Letters
What the country owes CWW Kannangara The people of our country owe C.W.W. Kannangara a deep debt of gratitude for having given us free education and thereby laid the foundation to change the social, political and economic history of our country. Who was this C.W.W. Kannangara? I am quite surprised that even many men and [...]
Appreciations
REV. THEO INDURUWA A dedicated and caring priest I came to know Rev. Induruwa well only late in his ministry as a Methodist priest; in fact, after he became a supernumerary- that is a retired minister of the church. We became such good, mutual friends; a firm and admiring relationship between a younger layman and [...]