Almost a quarter of a century after his much-lamented premature death at the age of 56, Prof. K.N. Seneviratne remains the most distinguished physiologist in the history of Sri Lanka. K.N.S. was a polymath -- a doctor, university don, physiologist, researcher, scientist, scholar, educationist, administrator (national and international) and volunteer army captain. Sadly he was also a tobacco addict. Yes, it has now become one of my occupational hazards; ever since I was appointed Chairman of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol in 2007, all my waking thoughts lead finally to tobacco which killed even the best friend I ever had, Kirthi Nissanka Seneviratne, or Bull.
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He knew that tobacco is the only consumer product which when used as intended by the manufacturers, kills half its regular users. Yet, such is the addictive power exerted by this evil weed Nicotiana tabacum on its users, that even K.N.S. the most well-informed person I ever knew personally, could not resist the temptation to gamble with it, staking his dear life. He lost. Like many others he began to use tobacco on the sly as a schoolboy, succumbing to the aggressive marketing strategies of the tobacco merchants of death.
Now that the truth about tobacco is beyond doubt, today's parents must warn their children to avoid tobacco like the plague, not because avoiding tobacco will make them more virtuous but because it will help them to live longer and feel better. This digression on tobacco may be justified because this year's Prof. K.N. Seneviratne Memorial Oration will be on Magnetic Stimulation of the Human Brain. Addiction to tobacco or to anything else for that matter, is a state of the brain and this year's oration will explore this new era in human brain studies.
Professor Vajira Weerasinghe, Professor of Physiology and Consultant Neurophysiologist, Teaching Hospital Peradeniya will deliver the oration. Prof. Weerasinghe graduated with honors in Dentistry from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya in 1984. He joined the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya as a lecturer in 1986. He then did a Master's degree on "Skin temperature gradients" under the supervision of distinguished physiologist Prof. Valentine Basnayake. He was a Commonwealth Scholar in 1991 and Commonwealth Fellow in 2002. He obtained his PhD from the University of Southampton, UK in Clinical Neurophysiology in 1994 and did his postdoctoral work at the King's College London on Advanced Clinical Neurophysiological Techniques.
He has established the most comprehensive Clinical Neurophysiological Centre in Sri Lanka at Peradeniya which serves patients and conducts research on neurophysiology. He delivered the Bibile Memorial Oration organized by the Kandy Society of Medicine in 2007. He has been the President of the Physiological Society of Sri Lanka in 2004 and in 2008 and the President of the Kandy Society of Medicine in 2009. Currently he is the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya.
Next year -- 2012 -- will mark the Silver Jubilee of the Physiological Society of Sri Lanka as well as the Silver Jubilee of the Professor K.N. Seneviratne Memorial Oration. Admirers of Kirthi Nissanka Seneviratne can look forward to a comprehensive account of his life and work on that occasion. In the meantime, let us honour his memory by attending this year's Prof. K.N. Seneviratne Memorial Oration scheduled to be delivered at the auditorium of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, Wijerama Mawatha on November 18 at 7 p.m.
All are welcome.
Lou Ching Wong gives his special touch to Model and Designer of the Year 20 Eleven
"You can eat kottu rotti at Hilton, and you can eat it at Pilawoos," Lou Ching Wong laughs. We're in fact talking fashion, and the stigma that exists in relation to the glamour industry. With a fashion career spanning over three decades, Lou Ching has come to see, over and over, that the "levels" at which industry professionals work play a huge part in defining the industry itself, and the understanding the public has of it.
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The Lou Ching Wong Studio boasts itself the Hilton of the fashion industry, but the man himself remembers well that a reputation which places you in the upper rungs of any art "does not come out of a box", it must be built. And that is exactly what he's helping the participants at the 'Model and Designer of the Year 20 Eleven' do. "Honestly, I don't know where I got this talent from, if not from the almighty God, and it's my experience that I've got to back me up. So this venture is, in fact, about sharing my experience with these young people, helping them figure out what they're capable of doing and how they can do it better."
At the end of the day, he believes, what's lacking in the Sri Lankan glamour industry is education and focus. Although the impression is slowly being broken, the Sri Lankan trend is for fashion to come across as something that anyone can do, off the top of their head. But Wong is adamant that his models and designers are disciplined and focused and ultimately serious about their work. "We do a little yoga to help, before we start," he smiles.
He spends hours upon hours with the competing models and designers, talking and walking them through the processes. "Everyone needs that break, a chance to start somewhere," he is compassionate, "so we're going to give them the chance to do what some of them thought they'd never be able to do!" But that doesn't mean the participants at Model and Designer of the Year 20 Eleven are only so-so. "They're good, they're good," he laughs confidently, but he keeps pushing them to be better.
"You're physically and mentally drained by the time you've finished the day's work, but when you're passionate about what you're doing, nothing is too hard." He promises the venture will bring fresh, new and important faces to the industry, and a night full of professional glitz and glam to Colombo. So rush to call the Lou Ching Wong Studio on 117 209 066 and get tickets for 'Model and Designer of the Year 20 Eleven' at the Grand Ballroom, Hotel Galadari on November 17.
Showing the way in stroke care
Several healthcare personnel who have contributed to improve stroke care in the country were felicitated at the 11th AGM of the National Stroke Association of Sri Lanka recently. Here they are seen with Dr Padma Gunaratane (President) and Dr Harsha Gunasekara (Secretary) of the Association.
Illustrated lecture on the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka
The Central Highlands with its unique biodiversity, forest cover and waterways was declared a World Heritage site last year.
Leslie Wijesinghe, former Senior Asst. Controller of Forests, Additional Director General of NARESA and author of the dossier nominating the Central Highlands as a World Heritage Site, will deliver an illustrated lecture on “Central Highlands of Peak Wilderness, Horton Plains and Knuckles, Sri Lanka’s newly inscribed World Heritage site”, on Thursday, November 17 at 6.p.m. at the Institute of Engineers, Wimalasundera Auditorium, 120/15, Vidya Mawatha, off Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7.
The lecture held under the auspices of the Wildlife Nature and Protection Society is open to the public and entrance is free.
A helping hand to orphans
Jayantha De Silva, Western Provincial Councillor and founder of the Pragna Pradeepa Concept, organised a function at the Wellawatte Ramaya orphanage recently. He is seen handing over a plate of food to one of the children
Rohan Gunaratne to speak on 'The Future of Sri Lankan Security: Countering the LTTE on Western soil'
Rohan Gunaratne will deliver a public lecture on 'The Future of Sri Lankan Security: Countering the LTTE on Western soil' on Wednesday, November 16 at 5.30 p.m. at the British Council Auditorium at 49 Alfred House Gardens, Colombo 3. The lecture is organized by the British Scholars Association (BSA) and is open to the public.
Rohan Gunaratne is head of Singapore's International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), one of the largest specialist counter terrorism research and training centres in the world.
He is also Professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and a Senior Fellow at the International Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, Oklahoma, USA. Gunaratna serves on the advisory board of the International Centre for Counter- Terrorism in The Hague.
He is author and editor of 14 books including "Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror" (Columbia University Press), an international bestseller.
Forging ahead with their mission of building bridges
Launch of the Ekamuthu Oray Makkal Unity Mission Trust
By Namali Premawardhana
“Let us build a new Sri Lanka!” B. Priyathanushan of Vattapalai M.V. called out to his audience on the evening of October 29. Professionals, volunteers, well-wishers, teachers and parents gathered at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute with students from Kandy, Mullaitivu, Vidutaltivu, Vishwamadu, Killinochchi and Mannar as they spoke, danced and sang in English, Sinhala and Tamil, to celebrate the launch of the Ekamuthu Oray Makkal (One United People) Unity Mission Trust (EOM-UMT).
Priyathanushan stood at the podium that night alongside two of his fellow students, to share his vision of a Sri Lanka that would recognize that “unity is strength” and step “beyond racial and religious differences” into a truly peaceful future.
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EOM-UMT works to “foster and facilitate national unity, reconciliation, integration and healing amongst and between the children of the North, Wanni, South, Central and other areas of Sri Lanka”. The philosophy behind the trust is a simple one: that of friendship. “What we’re trying to do is create friendships between children of different communities, because it’s only personal relationships that can be translated into social change,” explains trust coordinator Bertal Pinto-Jayawardane.
Although the trust is now officially established, EOM does not boast of grand beginnings. It is another simply inspiring story of how one family, in its bid to help those in need, began approaching friends and work colleagues in order to collect whatever possible resources they could, to provide for those in need soon after the end of the war. Their genuine efforts to reach out soon grew and developed into what is now a source of true inspiration and encouragement to the younger generation of the North and East.
“I am extremely proud,” S. Yasutha from Vishvamadu M.V. reiterated during her testimony, as she shared how her experiences at the EOM camps helped her learn, develop as a person, and most importantly, build friendships. Her generation is now stepping out of a war-torn life into something they have never experienced before and which we in other parts take for granted, and these friendships will, in time, prove to be strong links of support as they face challenges yet unknown. The testimonies shared that evening at the gala launch of the EOM-UMT were moving proof of what personal contact can do to remedy communal wounds that have festered for longer than three decades.
EOM-UMT operates on an inter-faith platform, giving primary importance to the recognition of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of Sri Lankan society. Their main aims are to support the educational needs of the children in the war-affected areas by “developing reference libraries, providing school books and other requirements to support classroom studies and sports, and conducting small-scale infrastructure projects to facilitate schoolwork”.
So far, they have completed food, educational supplies and medical projects in Menik Farm, Chettikulam, Jaffna, Kayts, Vidutaltivu and Mannar a number of times over the last two years. Although this sounds like a good list of achievements for an informally organized group of “like-minded people” who see themselves simply as “concerned and caring citizens who love Sri Lanka”, their real victory – in the friendship business – is far greater. Photographs from the EOM Camps held in Colombo in December 2010 and Mullaitivu in June 2011 show tonnes of laughter and gleeful smile after gleeful smile, depicting students from Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna, Mannar and Mullaitivu as they “chill out”, play games and do creative stuff together.
“What have we achieved in 30 years of war?” S. Logeswaran of Vidyananda M.V., Mullaithivu asked that evening. “We have seen only death, maimed families and widows. Violence will only give us destruction. Only love can achieve anything.” Clichetic you may think, and uncannily strong for a teenager. But it is that very strength that testifies to its genuineness, for he speaks out of more experience than most of us. |
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