Appreciations
View(s):The man behind the legend
Mickey (Mineka Wickremasinghe)
Mickey (Mineka Wickremasinghe) in his last years, with his greying beard, full crop of grey hair and calm demeanour, didn’t project the image of the business tycoon or legendary Sri Lankan entrepreneur that he was. Beneath this cool exterior though were the elements that enabled him to go through the many roles in his life with success.
An outstanding quality about him was his ‘likeability’. To those whom he came into contact with in the various stages of his life it was this endearing quality that was characteristic. The hundreds of Munchee employees who flocked to the funeral of their ‘Boss’ though it was private and unannounced, was testimony to that endearing quality with which he led his ‘Munchee Pavula’ for many years.
My association with Mickey came about in one of Colombo’s oldest social clubs in our ‘reclining’ years. He was still ‘the man about town’ – tall, fair (by Sri Lankan standards), attractive to the ladies, nonchalant, with a good sense of humour. By the time I met him, it appeared to me that although he was very much involved in running his gigantic ‘Munchee’, his interest in creative writing was getting the better of him and he said that he wanted to take up creative writing on retirement.
He had been writing short stories for some time and enjoying it. One such collection of stories, The Playmate, had been published in 1995 by the Minerva Press (UK) and later won the State Literary Award in the short story category.
I had been a longtime newspaperman and had no pretensions or inclinations to be a literati. But since I was a writer, both of us could stretch a conversation over drinks on writing, politics, newspaper editorials, news and feature stories. Mickey got me involved in discussing a book he was writing at that time – E-Danda which was about a village located close to Colombo but neglected and impoverished. E-Danda was a tree trunk over the stream connecting the village he was writing about over a stream from the mainland. The story was spun around the poor village and its people who had to walk risking life and limb on this tree trunk to go to and fro to the world beyond. It conveyed the writer’s sympathy to its unfortunate people and indirectly told the story of many such villages – perhaps thousands – across the island.
A surprising feature about him was that he was a typical ‘Southerner’ and had in him basic Southern instincts. An insult or derogatory remark about the South could have him explode spontaneously out of his placid composure. An insult or allegation made against a friend of his from another community could also have him equally enraged.
Mickey’s above mentioned qualities were rare exceptions to his usual sangfroid. He had relaxed in life from his early days. A schoolmate says he took it easy at St. Peter’s, not bothering about achieving distinction either in studies or sports.
Attempts to make him a planter and later a tea taster had flopped. Jobs in British and Scottish owned tea companies were sought after appointments by school-leavers at that time. Obviously the blueprint lifestyles which these companies had drawn up for young executives would not have suited young Mickey’s individualistic temperament.
Mickey’s father who was the proprietor of a modest biscuit manufacturing company then, set him on a course in food technology having sent him to work in a biscuit factory in Bombay and later to the University of Southwark and the Borough Polytechnic. He was awarded a medal on Food Technology.
When he returned to Lanka after learning about making biscuits, conditions (in the 1960s) were by no means favourable – as now – for opening new industries because of an acute foreign exchange shortage. The single established factory in production was considered sufficient for the entire needs of the country.
Mickey’s break came when he won the tender of the American organisation, CARE, for production of a nutritional biscuit to replace the glass of milk and bun then given to schoolchildren.
An enthusiastic player of Bridge at his clubs, he met his ideal Bridge partner who became his partner for life, Romayne. She had rare and diverse intellectual interests ranging from the theories of German swamy Gauri Bala, Krishnamurti, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Sri Aurobindo among others. At one stage Romayne and Mickey found themselves in Pondicherry as followers of Aurobindo whose works were translated by ‘The Mother’. Mickey was a follower of Aurobindo to his death but did not propagate or discuss his beliefs in his day-to-day conversations. He could be as comfortable speaking to an agnostic or a religious believer and avoid speaking about his beliefs.
As an entrepreneur he had even invested in a massive tourist hotel complex in Trincomalee with the legendary Esmond Wickremesinghe but this complex was reduced to ashes during the riots of 1983.
His lifetime achievement was Ceylon Biscuits which he built up with his family members. It was no easy going particularly during the Southern insurrection of 1989- 90. He faced strikes and in one instance once walked into a crowd of hostile workers who were pelting rotten tomatoes at his managerial staff. But a section of workers stood up as he walked into the crowd. From that point on, Mickey in his inimitable style won over the workers, inviting them to his club to hold talks. His workers didn’t take alcohol. They took soup while I sipped a Scotch and soda, Mickey recalls.
The Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement saw him move into India and buy up a defunct biscuit factory. With his Midas touch, he turned it into a money spinning venture but litigation followed and although the lower courts held that the establishment had been legally acquired, the Supreme Court of India ruled against the ruling of the lower court.
Mickey’s volatile emotions exploded openly in the media against the so called Free Trade Agreement. He was severely critical of the Big Brother attitude of Indians about Sri Lankans investing in India. He wrote in a newspaper: Indian officials are averse to Sri Lanka imports citing the example of a Customs officer sarcastically asking a Sri Lankan importer: ‘So you in Lanka are trying to export to India?’
Undaunted, he moved over to Bangladesh and set up Munchee factories whose performance has been exemplary.
Micky in the words of the Bard played many roles in his lifetime. By Sri Lankan standards they were outstanding and legendary. He broke new grounds in the field of biscuit manufacture such as production of ‘diabetic biscuits’ by the inclusion of indigenous herbs. He led his ‘Munchee Pavula’ to be one of Lanka’s biggest business establishments and broke into international markets in over 60 countries.
Mickey (Mineka) Wickremasinghe leaves behind a legendary record for a son of Sri Lanka.
Gamma Weerakoon
He abided by the oaths of his vocation and set an example to all
Rev. Bro. Gerard Peiries
The sad news of the death of Rev. Bro Gerard, Marist Brother, was noticed on Face book on July 9. The news of his death did not get the deserved publicity due to the unrest in the country, during that week that followed. He died at the ripe old age of 99 years and was known to be active until the last five years of his life.
Brother Gerard was educated at Maris Stella College, and opted to join the Congregation of Marist Brothers in the mid 1940’s. At that time, he was among a handful of Sri Lankans who chose to become a Marist Brother and was sent to a Marist Novitiate in Australia as such vocational training was not available in this country. After the completion of training, he was ordained as a Marist Brother and returned to Sri Lanka.
At that time, Marist Brothers had under their administration, three educational institutions: Maris Stella College, Negombo, Joseph Vaz College, Wennappuwa and St Joseph’s College, Bandarawela. Christ King College began functioning in 1943. Bro Gerard on his return from Australia, was appointed to the staff of this school imparting the education, which helped some of his students excel in their chosen fields and reach high professional standards.
He was a devoted teacher, preferring to be in charge of the lower forms, where he could mould the relatively young students with good values in life. He would spend much of his time after school hours on extra-curricular activities, in football and athletics, helping students to improve their handwriting and giving them assistance in subjects they were weak in.
A notable financial contribution he made to Christ King College was the launching of the poultry farm, later located at the premises of the Marist Novitiate not far from the College.
The Marist poultry farm later managed by Bro. Blacius, a German Marist Brother, who devoted his life here for the upliftment of the farm was a source of funding for struggling Marist Schools after the schools takeover in the early ’60s.
Bro. Gerard was devoted to any assignment entrusted to him. He abided by the oaths of his vocation and set an example to all those who followed him.
His service is long remembered. May he rest in peace.
Denzil Aponso
He lived a full life and never really ‘retired’
Michael Fonseka
He never looked for praises, he was never one to boast
He just went on quietly working, for the ones he loved the most
His dreams were seldom spoken, his wants were very few
And most of the time his worries went unspoken too
He was there a firm foundation, through all our storms of life
A sturdy hand to hold on to, in times of stress and strife
A true friend we could turn to, when times were good or bad
One of our greatest blessings, the man that we called dad .
Anonymous
This verse by an anonymous writer best describes my father whom my siblings and I called Thathi. July 23 marked the first death anniversary of this giant of a man, husband, father and brother and his demise last year left a deep void within me.
As I pen a few reflections of his life, I recall that Thathi left a lasting impression on a lot of people. The many letters, emails, cards and calls we had after his death, from family, friends, and people he worked with, those who worked for him and even those who met him just once recall his unique character, strong faith and quiet strength of just being a friend or helping them in many ways, big and small. He gave of his time to all – quietly and simply. In the words of the famous Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran – “You give but little when you give of your possessions, it is when you give of yourself that you truly give”.
My father was the seventh of eleven children born to Don Domingo and Rufina Fonseka. He had his schooling first at St. Peter’s College and subsequently at St. Aloysius College Galle under stalwart Jesuit priests such as Fr. Kiriati and Fr. Vito Perniloa.
My father came from a family of building contractors, and his father’s construction and engineering firm – D.D. Fonseka & Sons, was one of the very first construction companies in the island in the 1930s. My siblings and I interned in the firm after we left school. He started work as a young engineer at Boustead Brothers in the 1940s and then went on to join United Tractors, and thereafter took over the family firm with his brother Francis. They constructed many building and road projects, and a landmark construction was part of the causeway in Mullaitivu where the final battle of the civil war was won in 2009.
Good workmanship and training skilled labour were his forte. He was actively involved in the expansion and growth of the construction industry and was the inaugural Vice President of the Ceylon Institute of Builders, and later Chairman of the National Construction Association.
He was a good sportsman; he won his colours in athletics whilst at school, but later turned to golf. He joined the Royal Colombo Golf Club in the early 1950s, was Captain for two terms and thereafter President for one term.
In his youth, he owned and rode a racehorse named “Maksum.” We have heard stories of how he would sometimes ride his horse to Jawatte Road, Colombo 5, to see my mother whom he was courting at the time.
It was Thathi who guided me to my profession in Architecture. I would enjoy sharing many episodes of work and neighbourhood news with him on Sunday afternoons. He passed on his love of music and singing to all of us, and I recall happy memories of the sing-alongs at home and during our road trips where we visited his many worksites around the country.
He lived a full life and never really ‘retired’. He was happiest when he was involved in ‘projects’ helping others. His last major project close to his 90th birthday was the holiday bungalow built for my brother in Trincomalee where we worked in tandem, being involved in the design and supervision. I recall him being in his element and ever so fit when climbing a spiral stairway before the handrail was fixed to the third floor of the water tank building.
This image of him was taken on his 95th birthday last year, just two and a half months before he passed away. Although he suffered during the last month of his illness, his deep faith which was the foundation of his strength gave him the endurance until the end. We all miss him very much, but we feel his presence around us, and he is surely now resting with the angels.
I will close with a quote from Isaiah 25:4 –“You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, A shelter from the storm and a shade from heat.”
Michele Fonseka
Respected senior officer who will be missed by all
Col. Sanjaya Rathnayaka
Col. Sanjaya Rathnayaka died on June 12, 2022, and his sudden death was a shock to his family. He was healthy and fit and had never complained of any illness.
Sanjaya was born the second child of Berty Schokman and Sumana Hurukgamuwa on April 15, 1966 in Ambanpola. He studied at St. Anne’s College, Kurunegala and shone in sports and other extra curricular activities such as being a member of the cadet band. A dynamic character, he was head prefect of the school.
Sanjaya decided to answer the call of his country and enlisted in the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force as an officer cadet on August 2, 1989. After successfully completing his military training at the Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyathalawa, he started his military career as a 2nd Lieutenant to the Sri Lanka (2V) Sinha Regiment.
Due to his dedication and commitment to his duties in all fields of military activities, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel on May 22, 2020.
He followed various courses and the knowledge he gained over the years helped him make a significant contribution to the Army.
Col. Sanjaya Rathnayake was well liked by his superiors, peers and subordinates. He was a highly decorated and respected senior Army officer.
He will be greatly missed by his close friends and members of the Army. He leaves behind a grieving family – our sympathies go to his wife Eranga and two daughters Lakshika and Janavee.
Sanjaya may be gone but is not forgotten.
May he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana.
Col. Ranjith Rajapaksha
A boss who had a heart of gold
R. RAJAMAHENDRAN
When I got the news that R. Rajamahendran had passed away end-July last year, my immediate reaction was one of sadness. He was one of my mentors who would always encourage me in my career as a journalist.
RR as we called him, was someone I looked up to not only as a media magnate, businessman, social activist and philanthropist but above all, a boss who had a heart of gold. He was a friend and father figure to the thousands who worked under him. I got to know him better only after I left Maharajas.
The first time I met him was around 17 years ago. I walked into his room and he greeted me and asked me to tell him about my time at YES FM – albeit a brief one 21 years ago – and then at MTV’s Good Morning Sri Lanka.
I spent about an hour talking to him and then he called Mano Wickramanayake and they both chatted and RR said - “We don’t as a policy take our employees back but we would like you to come back.” However I told him that I had already given my word to my boss at where I started my career and was unable to do so to which he replied “Our doors are always open to you.”
He was someone who was quick to spot the potential in someone and thereafter help that person to progress. I still remember the letter he sent me about 16 years ago encouraging me and congratulating me on my work. On another occasion, he called me and said “Kshalini keep up the good work.”
When my father passed away nine years ago he called me from overseas to condole with me and said he would contact me on his return to Colombo. As always he kept to his word and I met him soon after that. He said I looked devastated coming to terms with my dad’s sudden death. I had left my job then as I needed time to grieve and he called my former Chairman, a good friend of his and told him to take me back.
“Thank you Sir, for all the support and encouragement you gave me – for being not only my Chairman but also one of my mentors.”
May you rest in peace.
Kshalini Nonis
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