News
New Sri Lanka Foreign Service recruits share their vision for the country
View(s):By Mimi Alphonsus
The Sri Lanka Foreign Service (SLFS) has 19 new recruits—the first to be recruited in six years.
They were recruited following two examinations and an interview. The Sunday Times spoke to some of them—Bamini Sellathurai, Manduli Katugampola, Raveen Ubeysekera, and Thilina Galappatti—to learn about the job and their vision for the service.
Most of the recruits come with many years of experience in the private sector, information technology, the public service, and the United Nations. “We have an especially diverse cohort this time with a wide variety of previous work experience,” said Ms. Katugampola.
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- Raveen Pix by Priyanka Samaraweera
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- Bamini
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- Thilina
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- Manduli
The recruits will be posted at one of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s many divisions, including bilateral affairs, consular division, protocol, overseas asset management and development, ocean affairs, environment, and climate change. After working for a year and a half, they will receive their international posting.
Ms. Sellathurai, who hails from Nawalapitiya and Negombo, spent thirteen years in the public service as an education administrator and with the Department of Examinations. “I sometimes felt as though this service was not for people like me, but while sitting the exam I realised it’s for everyone,” she said. “I want to be here as an inspiration for others.”
Ms. Sellathurai sat the competitive examinations alongside more than 10,000 others, all while working full-time as a public servant. She is interested, especially in diplomacy’s shift towards economic cooperation as much as political. She will now be joining the East Asia Division, which handles bilateral relations with countries like China, Japan and Australia.
Ms. Katugampola comes from Kandy and has a corporate background but became interested in foreign service out of a passion for working towards a bigger purpose. She is especially interested in how diplomacy has changed in the modern world due to technology and globalisation. “The role played by non-state actors in diplomacy is increasing. There are more contacts between the people of different countries, and boundaries between countries are thinning. So, we need to adapt to these changes too,” she said.
Ms. Katugampola hopes to balance the long traditions of Sri Lankan diplomacy from ancient times with modern strategies to tackle new problems. She has been assigned to the Protocol Division, where she will help manage diplomatic missions and coordinate visits and events.
Mr. Ubeysekera, who grew up in Colombo, also joined SLFS from the corporate and IT sectors. He says he has a special interest in technology’s role in diplomacy. “We are also susceptible to cyber attacks just as any other country. Issues in technology that cross borders, like cyber espionage and non-fungible tokens (NFT), pose new challenges,” he said.
He said he believed that all issues were increasingly global issues, and thus diplomacy and foreign affairs became
increasingly important. He joins the East Asia Division and International Security Cooperation, which
handles defence-related international relations.
Mr. Galappatti is also from Colombo and previously worked with the United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration. Drawn by a passion for history and geography and inspired by past diplomats, he decided to join SLFS. He said diplomacy was increasingly transparent and accessible today. “Unlike before, deals are not all made behind closed doors. The purpose of public diplomacy is to make the process transparent and open to the citizens and the world,” he said.
Mr. Galappatti has been assigned to the Multilateral Affairs Division, where he will work with organisations such as the United Nations and handle human rights issues.
Working at the SLFS can be a personally difficult experience, but the recruits are ready for the challenge. “We know the difficulties we will face with moving around often and the struggle for children, especially to move schools every few years,” Ms. Sellathurai said. Mr. Galappatti added, “The family makes huge sacrifices, but it is all in service to our country.”
The SLFS has been struggling
with understaffing due to COVID-19 and the non-allocation of sufficient funds
in the budget. Of its 275 positions, only 160 are filled.
Public Diplomacy Division Director General Niluka Kadurugamuwa said the additional support of the 19 new officers was welcome and they would help address the staff shortage to some extent.
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