Appreciations
View(s):The Muslim community has lost an inimitable adornment
Izeth Hussain
The passing of N.M.M. Izeth Hussain removes one of few illustrious civil servants who embodied great intellectual grasp, exacting personal integrity and consequential professionalism in our nation’s public service.
A career diplomat by profession, he served his country with great distinction but retained a low profile that belied his quiet efficiency and stellar achievements.
As a member of the Board of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies he played a pioneering role in its formative years from 1989 to 1994. Hussain was an old boy of St Joseph’s College, and graduated from the University of Ceylon, with an English (Hons) degree.
In retirement, he reached unmatched distinction as a public thinker defending, upholding and promoting the essential values of a plural, modern democracy. In later years he emerged a prolific writer with a vast number of articles, monographs and lectures to his credit.
His academic forays covered a wide spectrum including Islam, the present predicament of Muslims of Sri Lanka. Hussain’s was a unique and an objective voice that bore the brunt of a long and arduous struggle to flesh out the truth during the times of mindless attacks on the minority groups within and outside the Muslim community. Yet, he also found time to focus on subjects dear to him such as Urdu literature and Islamic culture in South Asia.
His often published positions on issues of national significance were masterpieces of persuasive advocacy, elegant prose and above all beacons of wisdom that avoided rhetoric and insisted on reason. Hussain in his years of retirement developed himself into a sharp social critic. He called a spade, a spade, a racist, a racist, regardless of the faith or colour they belonged to, including those from his own community.
I remain an unabashed and an ardent admirer of his principled life that made him an inimitable adornment of the Muslim community of Sri Lanka. I convey my deep sympathies to his family in their bereavement.
May he attain Jinnathul firdhouse.
Rauff Hakeem
Eminent professor who always had time to help others
Prof Mahroof Ismail
Professor Mahroof Ismail passed away a year ago on June 13.
I came to know Professor Ismail through his wife Deshabandu Jezima Ismail, being a frequent visitor at their residence at Kynsey Road. In brief, one could describe him as a “Gentleman to his fingertips”.
I initially did not know of his celebrity status since I am not in the medical field. Being the humble and unassuming man he was, he never flaunted his achievements.
He was a cook par excellence. He would make the most delicious asparagus sandwiches when he knew we (a few past students from Devi Balika) would be visiting Mrs.Ismail. He would join us and regale us with stories of his professional days with much wit and humour!
On numerous occasions I have seen both he and Mrs. Ismail advising young people and also giving a helping hand to the less fortunate to make their way in life. Their house was always filled with people whom they were assisting and educating!
The courage he showed when he lost his son was remarkable. He was a pillar of strength to Mrs. Ismail while he himself was grieving. Their personal tragedy did not stop them from continuing their good work for others not only in and around Colombo but also in the East from where Mrs. Ismail hails. They have open house everyday…even to this day their gates are wide open. It is like an open warm invitation for people to walk in any time. But I hope saner counsel will prevail and Mrs. Ismail starts to close her gate!
Professor Ismail and Mrs. Ismail got to know each other as kids. Their friendship blossomed into a deep love for each other and theirs’ was ‘a marriage made in heaven’! Both of them complemented each other in every way. He always encouraged her in all her activities. Even when his health was failing he wanted her to carry on with her work. He was never self-centred in any way.
My appreciation on Professor Ismail would not be complete if I do not write about his achievements in his medical career.I quote from an appreciation written by Professor Nilanthi de Silva, at the time of his death last year.“Prof Ismail was one of the earliest members of the Sri Lanka College of Microbiologists, serving as its 11th President, in 1987. In 2015, when the College decided to honour those who have served the College and our profession by awarding honorary Fellowships, the Council was unanimous in deciding that Prof Ismail should be among the first recipients of a Fellowship.
Mohamed Mahroof Ismail obtained his MBBS from the University of Ceylon and his PhD in Medical Parasitology from McGill University, Canada. He also spent a post-doctoral year at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in the UK. After his return to Sri Lanka, he worked at the MRI for several years and became its Director in 1983. In the same year, he joined the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo as the Professor of Parasitology and later served as Dean of the Faculty from 1994 to 1996. Throughout his working life, Prof Ismail engaged in research, mostly on lymphatic filariasis and soil-transmitted helminths. His work was of such quality that it had significant impact on national as well as international health policies in relation to control of both groups of infections. The most significant body of work that he and his collaborators produced was to demonstrate for the first time that albendazole combined with diethylcarbamazine citrate or ivermectin has a pronounced and sustained effect of reducing microfilaraemia for over two years. This combination is currently being successfully used by the WHO and the Ministries of Health in 83 endemic countries as part of the global strategy to eliminate filariasis.
Prof Ismail also held many eminent posts, serving as a member of the University Grants Commission, as the Chairman of the Board of Management of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medicine; and as external examiner in Parasitology of the University of Malaya as well as the National University of Malaysia. He served the WHO at its Headquarters in Geneva, and in the South East Asian Regional Office in New Delhi in many different capacities: as Chairman of the WHO Expert Committee on Soil-Transmitted Helminthiases; as a member of the WHO Expert Committee on Lymphatic Filariasis and the WHO Technical Advisory Group for Lymphatic Filariasis; as a WHO Consultant to Egypt and Bangladesh to revise their National Filariasis Control Programmes; and Chairman of the South East Asian Programme Review Group for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis from 2002 until 2006.”
Though we miss Professor Ismail whenever we visit Mrs. Ismail, we feel his presence in spirit encouraging Mrs. Ismail in every way to continue all the good work both of them did together.
Nelum Gamage
Old soldiers never die they say
Cecil Bertram Herbert Dunuwille
Cecil Bertram Herbert Dunuwille born March 21, 1923 died peacefully on Thursday, June 15, and according to his last wishes was cremated the next day.
Hailing from Kandy, Kundasale – Thennekumbura, he lived life to the fullest. He leaves his daughter Subadhra and son Kawan, also his grandchildren and great grandchildren.
He was indeed a meticulous person. He joined the British Garrison Army during the 1940’s and was attached to the Artillery and fought the Japanese. During CHOGM in Colombo in November 2013, Prince Charles personally requested the Ex-Servicemen’s Association to pay tribute to my father-in-law and a ‘thank you’ note was received with a package of goodies in appreciation of his service to the British Army.
Soon after the war ended he joined the Registrar of Motor Vehicles and retired as a Prosecuting Officer of the Motor Vehicles in the 80’s. He worked islandwide even in Jaffna and had many friends. He married Amitha Madawala and had three energetic sons – Nihal, Senaka and Kawan and an adorable daughter Subadhra.
Coming from an aristocratic Kandy family, they all had great pride in their rich heritage. During the latter part of his days in Rajagiriya his daughter Subadhra looked after her father with much care together with his son Kawan. His death has brought the family even closer and it’s such a blessing to see that Apachchi will always be remembered by generations to come.
He taught his family to be grateful with what we have and always evoked blessings upon his family. We were able to do a Thun waruwe Seth Pirith one month before his death.
On Poson Full Moon Poya Day in 2012 I helped my father-in-law to undergo a cataract operation at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital – Kalubowila and he was able to continue reading the newspapers without spectacles. My husband Kawan brought the newspaper to him daily.
He had a healthy life, ate anything that was given to him, never grumbled, did not have any ailments and never took medication other than for his cough and gastritis. He died of chronic acute broncho pneumonia and cardiac arrest at the ripe old age of 94+.
We thank the Ex-Servicemen’s Association of Colombo and Kandy for the help they extended from time to time.
May his soul Rest in Peace…
May he find the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana…
Sonali Niranjala Dunuwille
Honest and intrepid, he never compromised on his integrity
JOHN CLIMACUS PERERA
(A letter to the sons of an honest man)
My Dear Hiran, Suren and Nalin,
Your beloved father is no more, but do not grieve; be proud of him! He was a ‘Man among Men’ who stood straight and tall, in all life’s circumstances. He left a lucrative career in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, to educate you his sons, in the UK. For him family came first, and together with his wife Rita, he dedicated his life to your wellbeing.
Having schooled at St. Joseph’s College, he was called “Scholarship John” as he won every academic prize available, except for the Tamil prize (I’m sure it was not for the lack of trying)! For his efforts, a full scholarship was awarded to him. Greek and Latin were his forte, and he imparted this knowledge to his grand-children without reserve. Never one to do things by half, his achievements were ‘par excellence!’
His grand-children Roshan, Rehana, Schan, Maya and he, shared a mutual adoration. They chatted for hours, picking his gargantuan mind for morsels of wisdom. The generation gap did not exist where they were concerned, friendship was all! Although the latter were in Sri Lanka, and the former in the UK, one would think they had never been apart, to see them together.
Honest and intrepid to a fault, his straight-talking manner may have made him unpopular with some, but he never compromised on his integrity. Once when he was DRO Tangalle, a person brought him a couple of pots of curd as a token of his gratitude. The man and the curd were thrown out unceremoniously! A rare quality indeed in this day and age, when ‘pots of money’ are accepted with alacrity!
Rita, his partner of 59 years, and a short-listed Gratiaen Award nominee, was an absorbing ‘weaver of tales!’ Many are the hours we as children spent at her knee, open-mouthed and enthralled. John would sit nearby, his face wreathed in indulgent smiles. Theirs was,(in spite of much good-natured bickering), truly a marriage of minds and hearts!
Twenty five years ago, they founded the ‘Friends of Needy Children’s Association’ (FONCA), which had 42 Children’s Homes on their roster. It was entirely manned by volunteers, who enhanced the lives of countless children, from Kilinochchi to Matara.“Any kindness that we can do, let us do it now!”was his motto.
My parents and they being close relatives, and even closer friends, meant our lives were closely entwined.Then when my daughter decided to marry their son, it was truly de jure! Dear friend,‘May the turf lie gently upon you, and may the angels sing you to your final resting place!’
Priyanthie de Silva
Treasured memories of my ‘pen’ friend will live on
Rohan Weeresinghe
I first met Rohan nearly 18 years ago at the chambers of our family dentist. We had both come without appointments and had to spend time, initially standing next to each other. Having exchanged smiles we realized that we were looking hard at each other’s pockets admiring the pens safely berthed. I broke the ice by stating that he is sporting the latest Dunhil AD 2000 and he responded by stating that he can spot the latest Parker Duofold in my pocket.
As the patients reduced, we sat and admired each other’s pens, wrote a few lines on a sparsely populated advertisement of an ancient TIME magazine. He mentioned that he obtained the pen from Singapore and I did mention that I got mine as a gift from the Parker Company. He was thrilled and said I must then get to know you. That was the birth of our friendship which grew day by day to the extent that by the time he left us forever, we used to take turns to call each other every day. True to the first day, we continued to write with each other’s pens and discuss our experiences to the amusement of my wife.
Rohan hailed from a distinguished family, his father worked for International Agencies in Africa. He was educated at St. Joseph College after which he worked in the UK, before returning to Sri Lanka to work with Upali Wijewardena, founder Chairman of the GCEC, presently known as BOI. I understand that Rohan played a pioneering role and immensely enjoyed that experience, in particular travelling with the great man in many countries. He married Dileeni also from a prominent family and they were blessed with a daughter, Shayani whom he adored so much. My wife and I had the privilege of their company over the years and being entertained by them. We spent many Sunday afternoons together and our relationship was even greater because Dileeni and my wife were contemporaries at school.
Rohan was one of the most knowledgeable persons whom I have met. He had a gentleman’s library worthy of admiration. Books covering a wide range of subjects such as, wildlife, photography, historic battles, armour, literature, arts, Sri Lankan maps and prints as well as others were methodically placed in teak book cases and these were part of his legacy to Shayani. At any given time he would be reading a few books simultaneously. Rohan had rich tastes and to an extent was a selective and knowledgeable collector. Whether it may be a Sri Lankan map or print, a vase, ancestral writing bureau or a Chinese wooden screen, he knew the history of his collections A to Z. It was a pleasure listening to him and exchanging views on these subjects, always with his perpetual smile, focused eyes, providing the best of description using minimum amount of words that too spoken softly. He would come back to me if there were any gaps in his stories. Even though Dileeni reminded him of the magnitude of his overflowing library he managed to sneak in more books. He also had a rich culinary taste which unfortunately was at variance with his medical conditions and sometimes led to difficult situations. I realized this when unknowingly I obliged him by bringing some specialist cheese from Zurich.
Whenever I prepared an article to a pen magazine he had the first preview and I would always take on board his thoughtful comments. Very recently we were preparing several joint manuscripts covering lesser known tales of pens and their manufacturers. He always encouraged me to find tales which were not in the public domain. Over the last two months he was researching ‘inks’ and had downloaded more than 50 articles to prepare a manuscript. I am happy that I was able to obtain a bottle of his favourite ink, the Pilot Yama- Budo made in Japan, fit for an emperor. During a recent visit to the UK, Dileeni surprised Rohan by bringing him the 90th Anniversary Rose Gold Montblanc LeGrand pen which he treasured so much.
A few weeks before he died he experimented with several inks and wrote specific sentences in a note book and gave me the task of monitoring the written pages every week to observe any discolouring using my special magnifying glass. He will be happy to note that I am continuing his task with the same enthusiasm but without his reminders.
Both Rohan and I had rather complicated medical issues over the last five years and whenever I was in hospital he would visit me and then come home to check on me. On one occasion I had not briefed him on the gravity of a certain surgical procedure I had underwent and when he realized how difficult it had been, he was extremely kind to me providing all encouragement in every possible way to get back to my normal routine. It was later he informed me that he had read deeply on the subject and many who underwent that type of procedure were subjected to depression and he did not want that to happen to me. That was Rohan at his best. We enjoyed each other’s company so much. Rohan was a kind and generous person who extended a helping hand to many. He appreciated those who assisted him and I have never heard him speak ill of any person.
Both my wife Premini and I enjoyed the company of Rohan, Dileeni and Shayani. Rohan was very regular with the timing of his evening telephone call, and my wife would remind me to be ready for his call. Rohan was a dear friend, a ‘pen’ friend and above all a very caring person who checked on me so frequently. He has left very happy and caring memories which we will treasure for life.
Our deepest sympathies are extended to Dileeni and Shayani.
Prof. Sam Hettiarachchi